


The One Ring To Save Them

by PrePsychPineappleLover



Category: The Big Bang Theory (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:40:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25067809
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrePsychPineappleLover/pseuds/PrePsychPineappleLover
Summary: "Swiftly, Sheldon knelt onto the ground, opened ring box in hand. He waited for the perfect moment when realization dawned on her surprised face and he would ask her and she would say yes. He waited... but nothing happened." - When Sheldon came to New Jersey to propose to Amy something horrible happens that forces him to abandon his plan for the time being.I don't know how to tag correctly, hahacatching up with my stories I posted on fanfiction
Relationships: Sheldon Cooper/Amy Farrah Fowler
Comments: 13
Kudos: 39





	1. One Ring to Curse Him

**Author's Note:**

> This one takes place at the end of season 10, obviously, but takes a vastly different turn from then on. As I said, it's going to be an angsty ride, but it's Shamy through and through... :)  
> Also, there are a few characters from "House M.D." that will make an appearance since we're in New Jersey ;-)
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy...

Sheldon looked out the tiny window and saw how the lights of the city beneath him came closer again.

He was almost there.

It was midday in Pasadena when he started, but after the flight and the time difference of three hours, his watch showed him that it was almost nine in the evening now.

It was torture how long this was taking. He should have done this a long time ago. He should have done this at least before she left for New Jersey. It was the right thing to do. He was in love with her and she was in love with him. What exactly was he waiting for?

Surely not for that catty woman to kiss him.

Sheldon cringed. His lips started tingling again. But not the good kind of tingling that always lingered when he kissed his Amy. It was an unbearable burning of his lips, which he tried to sooth with soap, Purell and even rubbing alcohol. But it was no use. He couldn’t forget this wrong taste.

It shouldn’t have happened. Ramona Nowitzki had no right to do this to him. Penny had warned him; hell, everyone had warned him. But he had been too naïve. Sheldon never thought that someone would do this. Despite his experience with his parents and more specifically his father’s unfaithfulness, he’d never thought that this would ever happen to him. He never showed interest in any other woman; not before Amy and most definitely never since he knew Amy. She was the only one for him and Sheldon thought everyone was aware of that.

Apparently, it wasn’t, and Sheldon intended to make this right.

The wheels of the plane came into contact with the ground of New Jersey. A jolt went through the aircraft and Sheldon tightly fisted the little, square box in his pocket; the only thing he brought except for his phone, wallet and the clothes on his back.

Ramona kissed him because he wasn’t clearly enough labeled as off-limits for her, but that was about to change. Only one taxi drive separated him from his future bride now.

Sheldon was here in New Jersey to propose marriage to his girlfriend Amy Farrah Fowler.

* * *

He paid the taxi driver and entered her apartment complex. With determined, long strides Sheldon was making his way up to her room.

Despite never being here before, Sheldon easily recalled Amy’s temporarily address from memory and had no trouble finding the right way. As if she was calling him, guiding him to her.

He rounded the corner to her floor.

Sheldon figured that eventually his nerves would get the better of him, but it hasn’t happened until now. There was not a single seed of doubt in his mind that could’ve stopped him. Amy is the woman he wanted to marry, the only woman who would ever be worthy of this ring.

Sheldon stopped in front of her apartment door. She was just on the other side, oblivious to him being here. He missed the ‘his noon/her afternoon’ call for this. Hopefully, she wasn’t too worried.

Now his heart did beat faster. Excitement and anticipation made him smile to himself. Sheldon pulled the ring box out of his pocket and closed his eyes for brief moment. He took a deep breath; in through his nose, out through his mouth. Then he knocked on the door.

“Amy… Amy… Amy.”

Swiftly, he knelt onto the ground, opened ring box in hand. He waited for her footsteps on the floor. He waited for her to appear behind the door. He waited for the perfect moment when realization dawned on her surprised face and he would ask her and she would say yes.

He waited… but nothing happened.

Sheldon furrowed his brows. Well, that put a slight damper on his envisioned plan, but no problem. He would simply knock again. Maybe she didn’t hear him.

“Amy… Amy… Amy.”

No answer.

Sheldon listened for sounds but wasn’t able to make out clearly where they were coming from. It was a large apartment complex near the Princeton University where Amy was working for the next three months. If he concentrated, he could hear two people arguing, a television playing and the sound of running water. But it was hard to pinpoint the origin of those sounds.

Sheldon felt a slight itching in his brain prompted by the eventuality that he might had to change his plan. But yet he wasn’t stressed by it; he wouldn’t give up that easily.

Amy could be sleeping… although they still had to make their goodnight call and Amy wouldn’t miss that for anything. Or maybe she just wasn’t home yet. Sheldon took a look at his watch.

_A quarter to ten. Hm, why would she be working so late?_

Sheldon momentarily stashed the ring box safely in his pocket and decided to take the easiest way to find that out by calling her.

The tone indicated that it was ringing. Once. Twice. By the third time, Sheldon narrowed his eyes and took the cell from his ear.

He could  _hear_ Amy’s phone ring. Inside of the apartment; he was sure of it.

_So, she must be home, right?_

Sheldon hung up and knocked for the third time. Louder and with just a slight edge of worry in his voice as he was calling her name. Still nothing.

_Where can she be?_

He tried the door, but, of course, it was locked. No such luck. Could Amy have forgotten her phone at home when she left for work? To make absolutely sure that Amy wasn’t still at the university – because it did happen before that she forgot the time – Sheldon made another call to the directory assistance to get the number of one of her co-workers.

Finally, a voice answered him, albeit a little groggily. 

“Hello?”

“Hello, is this Dr. Zane?” Sheldon eagerly wanted to know.

“Yes. Who’s calling at this late hour?” the voice asked him slightly annoyed.

“I’m sorry, this is Dr. Sheldon Cooper. I’m the boyfriend of one of your new co-workers, Amy Farrah Fowler.”

“Yes, I know her…” Dr. Zane spoke warily. “Why are you calling? How did you even get my number?”

“That’s not important right now.” Sheldon dismissed him. “I’m standing here in front of Amy’s apartment to… uhm… to surprise her, but she’s not answering the door even though I’ve heard her phone inside. Could you please just tell me if it’s possible that she’s still at the university and simply forgot her phone?”

“Maybe she is home and just doesn’t like surprises.” Dr. Zane noted cynically.

“I don’t think so.” Sheldon said. His phone made a quiet knocking sound, indicating that he had another caller. Glancing quickly at the display and noticing that it was Leonard not Amy, Sheldon ignored it. “Look…” he said to Dr. Zane. “I’m sorry that I apparently disturbed your sleep, but this is really important. I need to talk to Amy now. Can you please tell me when you’ve last seen her?”

Dr. Zane sighed deeply, but apparently decided to humor him. “Well… actually…” he began thoughtfully. “We did send Dr. Fowler home early today.”

Sheldon frowned. “Why?”

“She had a little accident, nothing serious.” Dr. Zane immediately added, upon Sheldon’s audible intake of breath. “Dr. Fowler just literally ran into another professor as she walked down the hallway and turned a corner. She fell backwards and hit her head.”

“Dear lord!” Sheldon interrupted. “Is she okay?”

“Well, she seemed fine at first, returning to work just as usually. But later she mentioned that she might be getting a headache after all.” Dr. Zane narrated. “Our colleague, Dr. Harris, offered her some migraine pills, but when she wasn’t feeling better we advised her to go over to the Princeton Plainsboro Hospital across campus to get a check-up. Dr. Fowler wasn’t very convinced that it was necessary, but she agreed to go home and rest and promised that she would go to the hospital if the headache doesn’t subside.”

Sheldon listened to this explanation with withheld breath. This wasn’t at all how he had envisioned this. “And that’s the last time you’ve seen her?” he asked in a tensed voice.

“Yes. I guess this was… sometime late this afternoon. Four or five maybe.”

_Six hours ago,_ Sheldon noticed.  _If Amy’s not opening the door the headache must have gotten worse and she surely went to the hospital. Right? That’s the most sensible thing to do._

The worry in his voice got gradually replaced by edgy panic. “Thanks, Dr. Zane. Goodbye.” he said hurriedly and disconnected the call. Sheldon hadn’t shoved his phone back into his pocket yet, when he already rushed back through the hallway and towards the elevator.

His never-resting mind spurted out facts about the dangers of head injuries that he wished he wouldn’t know. How they can start out pretty harmless, but in some cases, they can quickly develop to fatal inner bleedings. Sheldon tried to tell himself that Amy would be fine, that she got treated at the hospital and reprimanded for not coming to them right away. 

This wasn’t affecting his plan in the least.

He would go there, find her and after he made sure she was alright, he would still ask her to marry him; this was in any case happening today. Luckily, the Princeton Plainsboro wasn’t far away. He could walk there and if he would hurry – and he definitely would – he could be there in ten to fifteen minutes.

The elevator made a sound, ready to take him to the ground level… yet suddenly… Sheldon froze.

_But what if Amy_ didn’t _go to the hospital?_

What if, for some inexplicable reason, she decided to stay home, dismissing her warning headache for a bad migraine and went to bed? She should know as a neuroscientist not to take injuries to the head lightly and that the worst thing one can do was going to sleep before it got examined. Negative effects of head injuries can resurface up until 48 hours after the impact.

Amy knew that.

The doors of the elevator closed again. Sheldon still stood in the hallway, his mind circling around that dreadful possibility and the even more horrifying consequences.

_What if she stayed home?_

Turning on the spot, Sheldon ran back towards her door. Panic skyrocketed suddenly, as his mind was now tormenting him with images of Amy passed out on the floor, unable to hear or answer him. The closer he came to the door, the surer he got that Amy, in fact, was still here and in danger.

Again, it felt like she was calling him. She wouldn’t leave her phone behind. She would at least text him when she was feeling ill and she would definitely let him know when she was on her way to the hospital. Something was not right here; Sheldon could feel it. He could feel Amy in his heart, behind this door, silently screaming for help. She was in danger!

“Amy!”

Sheldon arrived at her apartment again, pressing himself against the door and calling her name. With trembling hands, he shook the door handle, trying in vain to open it. “Amy!” he yelled again, punching against the wood with the whole palm of his hand. “Amy, please open the door!”

He waited briefly, listening for noises on the other side. But there was nothing. His heart was beating in his throat. “Amy, please…” he begged, wildly knocking again. “Please, open the door!” Sheldon threw himself against it. The door rocked, but it unrelentingly remained in place. He tried it over and over again, still yelling her name.

The noise he caused prompted other residents to open their door and annoyingly tell him to keep it down or they would call the police. Some of them observed him warily from afar with their phones already pressed to their ear.

_Everyone can hear me,_ Sheldon thought in full blown panic-mode.  _Why can’t Amy hear me?!_

Adrenaline shot through his body. Losing all sanity, Sheldon took a few steps back and charged against the door like a football player. His shoulder screamed in pain, but it got drowned out by his fear. He needed to get to Amy. Twice more, he rammed the door until he heard the satisfying sound of wood splintering. He never thought he had it in him. Once more, twice. “Amy!”

On the third time there was a loud crash and the door opened a crack until it got pulled back by the door chain. Panting heavily due to the exertion, Sheldon pressed his face against the gap and looked inside. “Amy, are you in here? Please… answer me!”

He couldn’t see her anywhere, but now that the door was partially open, his brain registered that the sound of running water he heard before was now significantly louder. It’s coming from Amy’s room.

_She’s here, I knew it, she’s here!_

With one more forceful thrust against the door, the chain snapped and the door fell open with a loud bang. Sheldon stumbled inside. He breathed harshly and looked around. “Amy, where are you?” His voice was getting thinner now; fear clutched at his throat.

Finally, Sheldon zeroed in on the dark spots in the carpet beneath another door that must lead to the bathroom. The sloshing of water was the only prominent sound in the apartment. That and his hammering heart.

Sheldon didn’t want to look behind the door; too big was the fear of finding that his imaginative mind could be right. He desperately wanted to stay in this reality of oblivion, in which there was still a  _slight_ chance, but a chance nonetheless, that Amy was safe and sound in the hospital just one block away.

But in exactly the same second, he already sprinted forward and ripped the door open.

The scenario he entered shocked him enough to stumble backwards.

Water running. Water on the floor, seeping into the bathmat. Water, dripping from the edges of the brimful bathtub. Water, leaving just the tip of Amy’s forehead, breaking the surface. 

The rest was under water.

“ _Amy!”_

Sheldon lunged forward. Her name ripped from his throat in a scream, but panic only allowed him to whisper. He fell to his knees, blindly reaching for the faucet to close it. Then he plunged with two arms into the water and lifted Amy out of the tub.

She didn’t stir, didn’t hold on to him. Her limbs just hung down like they didn’t really belong to her body.

Sheldon didn’t feel her weight. He didn’t feel anything.

Panic and all-consuming, overwhelming fear and consternation got so much control over his body that he felt like he had stepped out of himself, watching the scene as an outsider. Because living it, feeling it with his own body and mind how the horrific pain tore him apart, was too much to bear.

Sheldon heard himself yelling at her, shaking her. Watching, as her body reacted to his shaking as if it was made out of rubber. Finally, he placed his hands at her head by her chin and forehead and tipped it a little backwards before he breathed air into her lungs. Then he rhythmically pushed down on her chest.

He saw himself repeating that action. Over and over again. He breathed and he pumped. And he started to cry.

_Because she wasn’t breathing._

Reality came rushing back to him like a rolling wave, hitting him forcefully on the back of his head. So hard that he got dizzy. That was really Amy, lying motionless on the floor. It was really him who performed CPR on her,  _because she wasn’t breathing._ It was really him who made those awful sounds. The crying. The begging.

The floor was wet. His pants were wet. His cheeks, his whole face was wet. Amy was cold and wet. And still.

He wouldn’t stop. He would breathe for her until he passed out himself.

Sheldon couldn’t believe how far this was drifting off from the plan he had envisioned.

Then… it happened; so suddenly that his own heart stopped for a moment.

Amy’s body convulsed. Seemingly, out of its own accord her mouth opened and water spluttered out. Sheldon quickly supported her so the water could flow out easily. Then he held his breath as Amy continued to gasp for air.

She tried at least. Her lungs rattled and heaved. A painful, strained sound, but she was alive. She was alive  _again_ .

“Amy? Amy, please, can you hear me?” Sheldon sobbed, his voice trembling violently. He patted her cheek and talked so close above her that he was able to feel the weak puffs of air that erratically left her lungs. “Amy, talk to me. Please, answer.”

When it was clear to him that she wouldn’t respond, Sheldon reached for his phone. He dialed 911, put it on speaker and then clutched Amy’s hand in his.

“911, what is your emergency?” a voice answered.

“Amy…” Sheldon gasped and realized how thin and wheezy he sounded. “My girlfriend, she… she was in the bathtub. She passed out. She’s breathing again now, b-but… I don’t know for how long.” His voice cracked. Devastated sobs bubbled up, disallowing him to inhale properly. “I… I need an ambulance. Now.”

“Okay, sir, calm down.” The voice spoke experienced and firm. “Tell me your name and your location. I’m sending out an ambulance right away.”

“Sh-Sheldon.” he whispered. “Sheldon Cooper. I’m at the Rosedale Apartments near the Princeton Campus. A-Apartment 204.” Sheldon looked down at Amy’s still, unmoving face, his hand resting right above her heart, so he would immediately notice when… 

Sheldon swallowed. When Amy was in need of CPR again. Tears rolled over his cheeks. Her skin was so cold. 

“Please…” he spoke weakly into the room, not sure if anyone was still listening. “I love her. Please, save her.” With his right hand, the one that was not resting on her chest, he gently cupped her face, stroking his thumb over her pale cheek.

“The ambulance is on its way.” The female voice in his phone came to live again. “The hospital isn’t far, so they should be here any minute. Until then I’m going to hold the line with you, okay, Sheldon?”

Startled by the sound of his surname, Sheldon shook himself from his fixation on Amy’s face and answered. “Okay.”

“Alright, my name is Tina. We’re going to get through this together, okay? Tell me, is there anyone else with you who could help you and Amy?”

“N-No. I’m… we’re alone.” Sheldon said, biting on his lower lip to stop himself from hyperventilating.

“That’s alright. I’m here with you, don’t worry.” Tina spoke calm and reassuringly. “Can you tell me more about what happened to Amy? Why did she pass out?”

Sheldon could tell that this woman on the phone was trying to distract him from his obvious panic by keeping him talking. “Uhm… she… she hit her head. I-I wasn’t there.” A pang of guilt settled on Sheldon’s already heavy heart. “I-I don’t know why Amy didn’t go to the hospital immediately. She…” Sheldon wiped the tears from his cheeks. “She passed out in the bathtub. Wh-When I got to her, her face was already under water a-and…”

That’s the point when Sheldon’s breathing got too harsh and quick again as the horrible images, the first shock when he stumbled in, flooded his mind.

“It’s okay, it’s okay. Calm down.” Tina told him. “Sheldon? Can you hear me? I want you to do something for me. I want you to carefully examine Amy’s head and tell me if there is a wound that is still bleeding. Can you do that?”

Sheldon still breathed heavily, but he crawled over the wet floor on all fours to sit behind Amy’s head. On the way he grabbed a towel from the rack and covered Amy’s naked, fragile-looking body from the waist down. For some reason, he couldn’t stand how vulnerable she was looking, so pale and cold on the tile floor.

Sheldon lifted Amy’s head and supported it between his legs while his fingers tenderly searched for the spot that must have come into contact with the ground earlier today. Yes, there it was definitely. The bump on the back of her head was distinct, but from what he felt it wasn’t bleeding. At least, not anymore. “I… I found the bruise.” he answered Tina’s question. “It’s swollen and it feels very warm, but it’s not bleeding.”

“Okay, that’s good. Now, is she hurt anywhe—”

“Amy? No, no, no, Amy!?”

“What’s wrong? Talk to me, Sheldon.” Tina requested when Sheldon suddenly interrupted her.

Sheldon’s eyes widened in fear and shock as Amy’s shallow, irregular breathing fastened at first and then she was again gasping for air as if she was still drowning. Her weak heartbeat underneath Sheldon’s fingers fluttered… and then stopped.

“She’s not breathing!” Sheldon screamed back into the phone. Tina was talking again. She was telling him what to do, but he had already covered Amy’s mouth with his again and he breathed for her.

Same pattern as before. Breathing. Pumping. Crying. Begging.

A whirlwind of emotions, sensations and pain was controlling him. He didn’t hear or see anything. There was just Amy… Amy...  _Amy!_

“Sir? Sir, it’s okay. We’re taking over.”

People were suddenly all around him. They wore uniforms and seemed busy and confident. Finally, Sheldon realized that those must be the paramedics the woman on the phone sent to him. Sheldon couldn’t even remember her name, although he knew she had told him.

He was making room for the experienced helpers by scrambling backwards over the floor until his back came into contact with a firm, wet surface. The bathtub.

Sheldon’s body was trembling all over. His heart was racing and salty tears were sticking to his cheeks. Again, he felt like an empty shell, watching everything go down.

The paramedics worked quickly, trying to restart Amy’s heart and pumping air into her lungs until even more water spluttered out and her chest was heaving. 

A sign for life.

But Sheldon was beyond comprehending anything anymore.

He was clutching his long legs against his chest, shivering violently and ceaselessly crying and rocking his body back and forth.

_What is happening? Why is this happening? It can’t be true. It can’t be my Amy. I’m here to marry her not to… w-watch her… almost… die._ His mind recoiled at the horrific word.  _No, it can’t be true. It must be a dream. A hellish nightmare. What are they doing to her? Where are they taking her?_

Sheldon came to reality again as the paramedics started to move Amy. They were still helping her to breathe, but he heard them say that she’s stable enough for transport. Amy was lifted onto a stretcher and swiftly carried away.

Sheldon stumbled to his feet in a haze. His legs felt like they didn’t belong to him and he was nauseous, but that didn’t stop him from following Amy’s silent call. Like an object that was inevitably pulled towards the ground by gravity, Sheldon was inevitably pulled along by Amy. Rambling incoherently to the medical staff that he belongs to her and needs to be wherever she’ll be, he followed Amy’s irresistible force without looking back.


	2. One Ring to Remember

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here I'm introducing some original characters, because I couldn't leave poor Sheldon alone in this state, right? :)

Officer Nicolas Hansen was still pretty new in the Princeton City Police Department. So, when he and his senior partner got called to an apartment complex near the campus for a noise violation, he was excited to be in the front lines.

Briggs, his partner, was less enthusiastic, grumbling that this was probably just some drunken students coming home from a party. Slow business as usual. And the weekend hasn’t even started yet.

When they arrived on scene, however, they were surprised to get passed by an ambulance car with blaring sirens that stopped right in front of the same building. Nicolas turned to his partner who suddenly looked a lot more concerned.

This was serious.

They made their way towards the entrance and briefly spoke to the driver of the ambulance car who reported that they were here for a distress call from a man named Sheldon Cooper, concerning the critical condition of his girlfriend. After comparing the information each department received, they came to the conclusion that they indeed got called to the same apartment number. Apparently, Mr. Cooper caused that noise disturbance when he tried to enter his girlfriend’s home.

To make sure that there really wasn’t anything else going on, Briggs told Nicolas that they needed to go up anyway. Even if it was only to help, keeping curious gawkers at bay.

As the policemen arrived on the second floor, a stretcher was just carried out into the hallway. A dark-haired, unconscious woman was transported downstairs to the waiting ambulance. The man who was following her looked so deeply distraught, pale and full of fear that Nicolas immediately suspected a blameless accident and nothing more.

However, protocol dictates that, once they’re on scene, they ought to make undeniably sure that this woman wasn’t hurt deliberately. The neighbors who called the station did say after all that the man seemed crazed as he was forcing his way through the door.

Briggs took care of the nosy onlookers, reassuring them that everything was under control, while he left it to his younger partner to investigate apartment 204.

Nicolas was determined to do a good job; it was the first time Briggs allowed him to take the lead. After thoroughly scanning the living quarters, he detected nothing out of the ordinary. Everything was tidy; no sign of a struggle except for the entrance door, which loosely hung on its hinges. Nicolas carefully entered the bathroom, realizing that this must’ve been the scene of the accident.

The floor was still dripping wet, the bathtub filled with milky, cold water. There was a damp towel on the ground and a forgotten cellphone on the closed toilet lid. Probably the phone that was used to make the 911 call.

This was clearly looking like an unfortunate event that fell into the jurisdiction of the hospital only. Nothing left to do here for him except closing off the scene until the woman’s next of kin arrive.

Nicolas just turned to inform his partner, when, suddenly, the cellphone in the bathroom started ringing.

He looked back at it in contemplation.

What should he do? Let his partner handle this? This could be a family member of the resident. It would help them a lot if they could get a hold of any relatives or friends, so they could take care of the apartment while it was unsealed.

Nicolas quickly decided to take the call and stepped more into the small room. He pressed a button and held the phone to his ear. “Hello?” Nicolas asked vaguely to see how the person on the other end would react. The suspicious nature of a policeman got the better of him.

“Sheldon! Finally. Where are you? We’ve been trying to call you for hours!” a worried voice answered immediately.

_He called him Sheldon… so probably someone close to this Cooper person_ , Nicolas concluded. “I’m sorry, sir, this is not Sheldon. I’m Officer Hansen with the Princeton City Police Department. Could you please state your name for protocol?”

There was a pause at the other end of the line. “P-Police? What happened?” And then with a weary sigh, as if this wasn’t the first encounter with the authorities, “Oh no, what did Sheldon do this time? I swear he doesn’t know better. I’ve lived with him; he’s rude and condescending to everyone.”

Nicolas frowned. _Interesting._ “Sir, could you please give me your full name?” he repeated.

“Sorry, of course. I’m Dr. Leonard Hofstadter… wait a minute…” the man on the phone said after another pause. “Did you just say Princeton Police?”

“Yes, Princeton, New Jersey.” Nicolas answered obviously and wrote the name down in his pad. “Dr. Hofstadter, you implied that you know Mr. Sheldon Cooper very well, correct?”

The reply suddenly seemed a bit distracted. Another muffled voice could be heard on the line, asking what was going on. “Yes… yes, Sheldon is my best friend.” Hofstadter said into the phone.

“Okay.” Nicolas flipped back in his notepad, finding the information of the injured woman he previously got from the paramedic. “Do you also know a woman called Amy?”

The voice sounded worried again. “Yes, Amy Farrah Fowler. I know her. She’s Sheldon’s girlfriend. Listen, i-is there something wrong?”

Nicolas was writing into his pad again, glad that he learnt the woman’s full name. But then he realized that now he had to deliver bad news. He’d never done that before. Nervously, Nicolas cleared his throat. “Dr. Hofstadter, I’m afraid there has been an accident at Ms. Fowler’s apartment.”

“Oh, my god, is Amy okay?” Hofstadter interrupted immediately. The other voice that stood with him, a female obviously, could be heard more clearly now as she demanded to put the call on speaker.

“I’m sorry, I can’t tell you much.” said Nicolas. “Ms. Fowler is getting delivered to the hospital right now. Your friend Sheldon is with her.”

A string of exclamations was heard from the female voice while Hofstadter remained calm but equally shocked by the news. “Oh, no. Please, is there _anything_ you can tell us? How bad is it? What happened?”

“I can’t tell you anything about the accident itself, but the paramedics were rushing her away rather quickly. Ms. Fowler had been unconscious and your friend was looking very distraught.” Nicolas explained. “I think it would be easier if you come directly to the Princeton Plainsboro Hospital or inform Ms. Fowler’s family about the accident.”

There was another troubled sigh on the phone. “Well, this is going to be a little difficult.” Hofstadter said.

“My god, what is Sheldon even doing in New Jersey?!” The female voice exclaimed audibly.

Nicolas frowned again. “I’m sorry, from where are you calling?” he asked curiously.

“Uh, Pasadena, California.” Hofstadter replied.

“Oh.” Nicolas blinked a little perplexed. So waiting for relatives to take care of the apartment could take a bit longer, after all.

“Okay, listen, Officer…” Hofstadter spoke up again, suddenly with a very firm and determined voice. “I will get to Princeton as soon as I can. I’m going to take the soonest flight—”

“I’m going with you.” the female chimed in.

“This will take a few hours, though.” he said. “Could you please, _please,_ make sure that this phone gets back to Sheldon Cooper and tell him that I’m on my way?”

Nicolas contemplated this for a moment, wondering if he was interfering too much with this situation if he did what Dr. Hofstadter asked him to do.

“Please.” he pleaded again. “I bet Sheldon is already freaking out right now. He’s really not good with this kind of stress.”

Nicolas nodded to himself. “Alright, Dr. Hofstadter. I will try to find him in the hospital.”

“Thank you so much!” Hofstadter said in relief. “Tell him, Leonard is on his way. I’m taking off immediately.”

* * *

Lorraine Wheeler stood from her chair at the hospital’s reception desk and grabbed her coat. She was finally done with her shift and was looking forward to returning back home and curling up in bed with a good book.

She looked up as the swinging doors of the emergency entrance swung open and a gurney was rushed in. Her colleague admitted the patient and motioned for the ER ward as several nurses and doctors already took over and pushed the gurney down the hallway.

It wasn’t a sight that troubled Lorraine anymore; this is what she saw day to day. Sick or injured people, also critical emergencies like this one, got rushed in all the time and she knew that it was only natural that not every one of them made it out of the hospital alive. But Lorraine also knew that there were good people working here who gave their best to save as many patients as they possibly can.

So, even though she didn’t pay any special attention to this particular emergency, there was something that did caught Lorraine’s eye.

It was the terrified looking man stumbling through the door a few seconds after the paramedics.

He was obviously looking for the gurney that occupied his loved one, but as he spotted it and wanted to charge after it, he got hold back by one of the doctors. They were talking briefly then the doctor followed his new patient.

The man stayed behind.

He was a pretty tall guy, but in the midst of the grand, busy hospital lobby, he seemed very small and fragile.

People had to swerve around him and he received a few annoyed glances for standing in their way, but the man didn’t take notice of them. His gaze was fixed on the direction where the gurney disappeared.

He was shivering visibly and tears were leaving wet streaks on his pale face. It must’ve been glaringly obvious to the people around him that he was deeply distressed, but no one stopped to ask if they could be of aid; they were too occupied by their own problems.

“Hey, Lorraine, I thought you’d left already?”

Lorraine blinked as her colleague returned back to the reception desk and started to add the data of the new arrival into the system. “Oh, yes… yes, I’m on my way.” Lorraine took her bag and threw a quick glance at the computer screen.

_Patient: Amy Farrah Fowler, 34. Cause of admittance: Head trauma, possible cerebral hemorrhage. Assigned to: Dr. Eric Foreman, neurologist._

“What is it with you today? Haven’t you worked long enough?” Kathleen, Lorraine’s colleague, teased her playfully.

She smiled a little distractedly. “You’re right. I should go. See you tomorrow, Kat.” Lorraine made her way around the counter and went for the door.

The tall, dark-haired man still stood exactly at the same spot as before. As Lorraine was getting closer to him, she noticed dark, wet spots at the knees of his pants. The sleeves of his undershirt were wet, too and he had balled his fists tightly at his sides. The trembling of his form had worsened and his face was pinched together as if he was in actual physical pain.

Lorraine slowed down and looked around. There was still no one else who felt responsible for the poor guy. He was completely alone. She felt bad for him. Whoever this Amy was, she’s obviously very important to him. Lorraine couldn’t bring herself to walk past him after she had watched him for so long. Stroking a dark, curly lock of hair behind her ear, she carefully stepped closer.

“Excuse me, sir, are you alright?” _What a stupid question. Of course, he’s not,_ she thought to herself. But the man showed little response anyway.

Very slowly, as if his brain hadn’t registered yet that she was talking to him, he was turning his head away from the ER hallways and looked at her. His baby-blue eyes were red-rimmed, as pale as the rest of his face and glistening with tears. He stared at her wordlessly.

“Are you okay, sir?” Lorraine asked again. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

She didn’t think it was possible, but the stranger’s face contorted even more and with a voice, so weak and shaky that it sent goosebumps all over her body, he whispered, “Amy.”

Then he began sobbing and breathing harshly.

“Oh.” Lorraine said compassionately, extending her hand to touch his arm for comfort, but stopping at the last second, not sure how he would react. “It’s going to be okay.” she said instead, realizing that there was nothing she could possibly do to make him feel better… except maybe listening to him for a while. “What happened to her?”

The man seemed to look through her, lost in his mind’s images. His lips moved, but no sound came out. “She… she… fell, h-hit her head.” he sobbed finally. “She passed out. When I found her s-she didn’t…” he cut himself off, running a shaky hand through his hair. His breathing quickened. “She-she wa-was…”

The sentence remained unfinished, because, all of a sudden, the ghostly white parlor got mixed with a slightly green hue and in the next second, he clasped a hand in front of his mouth, ran for the nearest garbage can and vomited right into it.

Lorraine hurried after him, laying a hand on this poor stranger’s back, after all. _This is even worse than a panic attack,_ she realized. _I can’t leave him alone in this state._

The stranger leaned his back against the wall, looking upwards and breathing deeply. Desperate tears still kept running from his face. Lorraine took his arm again and steered him towards a nearby bench. “Here, sit down. Breathe. Nice and slowly… yes, very good.” she praised when he calmed down a bit.

“I was too late.” he said, squeezing his eyes shut to stop the flood of tears. “Her head was under water. She’d stopped breathing.”

“You weren’t too late.” Lorraine disagreed. “You got her here and if they were rushing her into the ER that means that she _was_ breathing again and there’s still hope for her. Seems to me that you got there right on time.”

He opened his eyes and turned his head towards Lorraine. It seemed like he was really seeing her for the first time now. His blue eyes were still widened in fear, but he was no longer on the verge of total panic.

She smiled reassuringly. “My name is Lorraine. I’m working here at the Princeton Plainsboro. What’s your name?”

He in- and exhaled for a few times. “Sheldon Cooper.” he said then.

“Hi, Sheldon.” said Lorraine. “Can I call you that or do you prefer Mr. Cooper?”

“Just Sheldon is fine. Or Dr. Cooper, just… don’t call me mister.”

“Oh, you’re a doctor, too?” Lorraine nodded impressed.

“Not a medical doctor.” Sheldon said. “I’m a theoretical physicist.” Then suddenly his expression turned grim again. “Amy is a doctor, too. She’s a neurobiologist… a brilliant one.” His lip trembled. “I don’t understand how this could happen! I talked to her this morning and then…” He sank his head until it was almost between his knees and pulled at his hair. “This isn’t how I had planned this at all. I _am_ truly cursed.”

Lorraine frowned. “What do you mean? What was your plan?”

Sheldon sighed deeply. One of his hands glided into his pocket and seemed to fist something there. Another deep sigh. Finally, he looked up and pulled the object out of his pocket.

He held a little, black ring box between his hands. He opened the hatch and a beautiful, golden ring sparkled back at him.

He wasn’t saying anything. Lorraine didn’t need an explanation for that. A new wave of sadness and compassion washed over her. _That poor guy wanted to propose to his girlfriend and instead he had to rush her into the hospital. No wonder he’s so shaken._

“I’m so sorry.” Lorraine said quietly.

Sheldon’s features didn’t change. He kept staring at the box in his hand. “This isn’t the first time I tried to propose to her.” he said lowly. “The first time, I had messed up our fifth anniversary dinner date and when I called to apologize and to propose… she broke up with me instead.”

Lorraine was shocked by what she heard, but Sheldon didn’t seem to be fazed at all. Or rather, he was so overwhelmingly fazed that he wasn’t able to show any kind of emotion.

“This came highly unexpected to me, but eventually I was able to deal with it.” Sheldon narrated monotonously. “Later, after we’d been broken up for a few months, I decided that I didn’t want to give up on us, so I went to her house to ask her again.” He swallowed then. “Only I found her kissing another man.”

Lorraine swallowed, too, getting surprisingly emotional just listening to his sad story.

“Now that did hurt me very much. So much so that when she was ready to get back together with me, I wasn’t sure if I’d be strong enough to stand it if she’d ever leave me again.” Tears were silently dripping into his lap, but his face stayed stony and straight. “Now… I have my answer… I’m not.”

The mask was cracking and it was pulling at Lorraine’s heartstrings how clearly the affliction tore this man apart.

“Don’t say that. Nothing is lost yet.” she said to him. “And you’re definitely not cursed, either. If this accident hadn’t happened, she would’ve said yes to you, I’m sure.”

Sheldon closed the ring box and looked up, teary-eyed. “I know. That’s what makes it even worse. Somewhere, in a parallel universe, she could already be wearing this ring right now and she would be my fiancée. But I’m stuck in this reality and, yet again, I’m denied that kind of happiness.” he sniffled. “Why does this keep happening to me? Haven’t I deserved her? Have I done her wrong?”

He was close to hyperventilating again, so Lorraine rubbed his arm. He flinched at the touch, but then he allowed it. “No, of course not.” she said.

“H-How would you know? You don’t know us. You don’t know what I put Amy through.” Sheldon argued desperately.

“I may not know you, but I see you now.” said Lorraine. “You obviously love her very much. Anyone could see that. I doubt that there’s anyone else who could love her and worry about her more than you do right now.”

Sheldon stayed quiet, contemplating this. After a while, Lorraine continued, “I can’t give you any guarantees, but those people that are in there with Amy right now… they’ll do their very best. I know the doctor that she’s assigned to, Dr. Foreman, he’s our leading neurologist and very experienced. If anyone could save her, then it’s him.”

This seemed to ease Sheldon a bit. Wiping his tears from his cheeks, he quietly mumbled to her, “Thanks for trying to comfort me. I know you’re not obligated to do that.”

“It’s fine.” Lorraine assured him. “You’ll see, your Amy will wear that ring on her finger in no time.”

Sheldon was about to reply to that, when, suddenly, another voice spoke up:

“Excuse me…”

Lorraine and Sheldon looked up to the uniformed man that had stepped to them.

“I’m sorry to bother you, but are you Mr. Cooper? Sheldon Cooper?” he asked.

Sheldon didn’t seem to be able to answer immediately, so Lorraine took over for him. “He’s a doctor, actually.” she said to the young policeman and offered Sheldon a tentative smile.

“Yes.” Sheldon finally said. “Yes, I’m Dr. Sheldon Cooper.”

“Dr. Cooper, I’m Officer Hansen from the Princeton City Police Department.” he said and stretched out his hand. Sheldon was still clasping the ring box tightly in his fist, blankly looking up at him, so the officer let his arm sink.

“My partner and I got called to your girlfriend’s apartment almost at the same time that the ambulance arrived.” The officer reached into the pocket of his jacket and retrieved a cellphone. “I found this when I was scanning the residence and, coincidentally, it started ringing just before I was leaving.” He handed Sheldon the phone after the latter had stashed his ring box safely back in his pant pocket. “A man named Leonard Hofstadter was asking for you.”

Sheldon nodded slowly. “Yes, Leonard’s my best friend.”

“Well, he seemed very worried after I told him what had occurred here and he wants you to know that he’s on his way over.” Officer Hansen told him.

Sheldon’s eyes widened in surprise. “Really? He’s… he’s coming _here_?”

Hansen nodded his head. “He specifically asked me to tell you that he’s leaving right away and will be here as soon as he can.”

Lorraine smiled, happy that Sheldon wouldn’t be alone anymore. Although, the flabbergasted expression on his face puzzled her a bit.

“Thank you, officer, for letting me know.” Sheldon said almost in a whisper and, oddly enough, his lips started trembling again.

Lorraine thanked the policeman, too, and he left. Then she turned to Sheldon. “You see, not everything is turning against you. Your friend will be here soon.”

“Yes.” Sheldon only whispered.

Lorraine frowned. “What’s wrong? This is a good thing, isn’t it? You surely rather want him here with you than a total stranger.”

“It’s… it’s just that… I can’t believe he’s really coming here.” Sheldon said.

“Well, of course. Why wouldn’t he?” Lorraine asked unworried. “I tell you what; I will stay here with you until he arrives, okay?”

Sheldon shook his head. “No, I couldn’t ask that of you.”

“It’s no trouble.” Lorraine assured him. “I’ll be home in a few minutes.”

“No, I really couldn’t ask that of you.” Sheldon insisted and then explained, “Leonard… he’s not… particularly… at the nearest location.” Upon Lorraine’s curious tilt of her head he added, “Amy, me and all of our friends are living in California. Amy was just here for a research fellowship at the university.”

Lorraine blinked a few times to understand what he was saying. Then she slumped back against the wall, her mouth dropping open. “So, you’re saying… you flew across the _whole_ country… on a whim, apparently… just to propose to your girlfriend?”

“There were complicated circumstances back at home, but yes. I did.”

“Wow.” Lorraine exclaimed impressed. “And you seriously think you don’t deserve her? That’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard.” Sheldon smiled weakly. But his thoughts were undoubtedly still circling around the fact that he didn’t actually get to propose. “Amy is one lucky girl.”

Sheldon was looking downwards into his lap again, now clutching his phone and obviously caught up in his troubled thoughts. Lorraine nudged his shoulder carefully. “How about I at least stay here with you until you hear back from the doctors?”

Sheldon nodded almost unnoticeably. “That would be nice.”

“No problem.” Lorraine said. They were quiet for a bit. “You can tell me about Amy while we wait. She seems to be a very special woman.”

A smile flitted over Sheldon’s features as he pressed a button on his phone and it came to live, displaying the picture of a smiling, brunette woman with red-rimmed glasses. “She’s the most amazing woman I’ve ever met…”


	3. One Ring to Decide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back in Sheldon's POV. And one of the "House doctors" will make an appearance... oh, and just a reminder: Even though I have the doctor explain some medical stuff, I am not a doctor, haha. So, forgive me if I made errors. ;)  
> If you enjoy the story, it would be greatly appreciated if you leave me a comment below! Thank you!

In a sudden moment of clarity, Sheldon became aware of his surroundings. As unlikely as it may sound, but he hadn’t really noticed the bustling activity of the hospital lobby until now. He had neither recognized the pale-yellow color of the wall against which he was leaning, attempting to procure a sense of calmness, nor truly looked at the woman who was still sitting next to him.

All this time that had passed since that moment of pure shock in her apartment… the image of Amy under water… it felt surreal to Sheldon. All of it.

Amy would have called it a coping mechanism of his brain to protect him from the pain that reality was causing him.

He smiled, thinking about her. But deep inside of him his heart was twisting and turning in agony. Because Amy wasn’t here to tell him about coping mechanisms.

This controversy, the denying and pretending versus the pain and gut-clenching fear for her, made him feel like he was losing his mind. There was no other way to explain why he was silently wiping tears from his cheeks while he was telling that nice desk nurse, Lorraine, about the make-believe prom night where he told Amy he loved her for the very first time.

Thinking back to this special night usually caused Sheldon’s stomach to flutter with proverbial butterflies while his lips formed an involuntary wide smile. Those exact same things were also happening now, but simultaneously his insides seemed to cry out in horror. Because what if reliving old memories will be the only thing left for him to do from now on? What if he won’t get the chance to make new ones?

Sheldon didn’t want to consider this even for a second, but his mind gave him no rest.

A little over an hour of him talking nonstop about his and Amy’s life journey without really stopping and comprehending what he was saying and Lorraine listening quietly and smiling patiently at him, there were finally two doctors who grabbed Sheldon’s attention.

He recognized one of them; the dark-skinned man he was briefly talking to before Amy was rushed away. He was now talking to a young-looking, blonde colleague and then spotted him sitting on the bench with Lorraine.

“Oh, that’s him. That’s Dr. Foreman.” said Lorraine helpfully.

The doctors nodded at each other, parting ways and Dr. Foreman came over to them. Sheldon immediately jumped up, feeling his rubbery legs straining painfully.

“Dr. Cooper, right?” the dark-skinned man said calmly, not giving anything away. “I’m Dr.—“

“What about Amy?” Sheldon cut him off impatiently. “Please, tell me, is she okay?”

Dr. Foreman nodded understandingly. “She survived the surgery.”

Sheldon felt a weight lifted from his heart as grand as the state of Texas. Breathing out in relief, he quickly exchanged a look with the woman who kept him sane until now; Lorraine encouragingly smiled at him.

“Amy’s head trauma had caused a fracture and a severe swelling inside her brain.” Dr. Foreman explained then. “The swelling gradually pressed against several important blood streams which eventually led her to fall unconscious. After we managed to bring her back to life, we had to relieve the pressure in her brain.”

This is where Dr. Foreman paused. However, the somber look on his face told Sheldon that this was by far not the end of his explanation.

“Even though we succeeded to do that, Amy’s brain additionally had to sustain a long time without oxygen. We do have the swelling under control now, but Amy is still unconscious… and depending on the damage that was done by the deprivation of oxygen… she could remain in this state.”

The weight was back again. It enclosed Sheldon’s heart like a cloak of heavy, interminable darkness, squeezing the life out of him. “F-For how long?” he heard himself ask.

Dr. Foreman took a deep breath. “It’s hard to say. She could slip deeper into coma and never wake up again or she could fight her way back within weeks or months. Even years are possible. But either way, if she manages to wake up at all, she might not be the same as before.”

Sheldon’s shoulders were dragged down by the imaginary weight in his chest. The words of the doctor were like multiple kicks to his stomach. He wanted to throw up again but couldn’t because there was absolutely nothing left inside of him.

_Never wake up. Even years are possible. She might not be the same._

_Never wake up!_

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t give you better news.” Dr. Foreman said. “The fact remains that you saved your girlfriend’s life when you found her. Any longer under water and she would have been gone irrevocably.”

There was a hand on his back. Lorraine tried to comfort him. Sheldon felt numb. This couldn’t be it. This wasn’t how this was supposed to be.

_Never wake up._

“I’m telling you this in all honesty so you can prepare for the worst case. However, I wouldn’t give up hope yet.” The doctor stated. “At this point there’s simply no telling if or when she wakes up. So I would suggest that you go and sit with her, talk to her. Amy might still be in there somewhere.”

_He wouldn’t give up hope._

_Never wake up. Wouldn’t give up hope._

Sheldon came back from this inner struggle, blinking absently and still feeling empty. He was wordlessly staring at the doctor, aware that he was supposed to say something now. A decision was expected of him… or at least a reaction of some kind.

_Wouldn’t give up hope. Never wake up._

Dr. Foreman was repeating his name, asking if he was okay. Lorraine wanted to know if he needed to sit down again.

_NO_ , he wanted to scream. There’s only one thing he needed.

“I want to see Amy. Please… please, take me to her.” he said in a voice that sounded strange to him. Quiet. Raspy. Scared. That wasn’t him. He never felt this vulnerable before.

The two people standing with him talked briefly. Lorraine finally took his arm and led him forward. He followed her without a struggle. She was talking to him, but he seemed to forget what she was saying while he was listening. To the people they encountered on their walk, Sheldon must have looked like a zombie. Empty eyes and empty heart; unseeing and unfeeling.

Eventually, they stood in front of a door. It was a sliding glass door. Sheldon blinked, realizing that he was able to see what lay behind it.

A pale, dark-haired ghost with a thick bandage wrapped all around her head. Attached to wires, she was sleeping undisturbed.

Sheldon blinked again; life returned to his limbs and he broke free from Lorraine’s hold.

“Amy.” he exclaimed, pushed the door open and stumbled forward. His knees gave out just before he reached the visitor chair next to her. Sheldon scrambled over to her, taking her hands in his and breathing his sobs into her still face. “Amy.” he repeated and then finally… he started crying.

Sheldon wasn’t even trying to wipe the tears away. His hands wandered to her bandaged head, touching it lightly. His fingertips then graced her temples, her cheeks, her sealed mouth and her chin. He followed the curve of her neck and down her arms until he reached her hands again and squeezed them.

There was no response.

“Amy.” he pleaded again. Rationality knew that she wouldn’t answer, but Sheldon had to try, nonetheless. Just being close to her made him feel so much better, even though it didn’t look like it. At least he was _able_ to cry now. This whole time before Sheldon didn’t even feel human anymore.

He was lifting himself from the ground where he knelt and sat down on the chair, scooting as close to her as possible while never letting go of her hands. He began kissing the skin that was visible to him, murmuring soft pleas. Lorraine was telling him that she would leave him alone now, but Sheldon didn’t turn away from Amy.

He made his decision.

He would never give up hope.

* * *

The heavy, lonely silence came to an abrupt stop.

Sheldon jerked up from his sleeping place right next to Amy and winced because his body was bent in such an unnatural pose, when the sliding door opened with force and two haggard looking people came stumbling in.

They both took one quick, shocked glance at the unmoving occupant of the bed and then turned to him with a look of so much worry that Sheldon felt almost childlike.

“Sheldon. Oh, my god, we came as quickly as we could. How is she?” Leonard immediately spluttered and hurried over to him.

“What happened?” questioned Penny, who was only one step behind her husband, but now she reached around him to give Sheldon a tight hug.

The hug ended and Sheldon felt just as empty as before. With Amy’s hand still clasped in his, he stared at his two best friends as if he didn’t recognize them. His throat felt like a cold rubber band, brittle and stiff from non-use. No matter how much he swallowed the words couldn’t make it past his lips. Even if they would, Sheldon realized that he had no idea what to say.

His friends exchanged an alarmed glance. “My god, I think he’s in shock. Leonard, what should we do?” Penny spoke nervously.

Leonard rubbed his hand over Sheldon’s shoulder, attempting to get through to him. His face came closer. His bushy eyebrows were scrunched tightly together over the thick, black-rimmed glasses. “Sheldon? Buddy, it’s okay. We’re here. You’re not alone anymore.”

“Sweetie, can you please try and tell us what happened?” Penny ventured carefully. “We tried to call you since yesterday evening and when we finally got through there was a police officer on your phone, telling us there’s been an accident with Amy. We were so worried; we immediately boarded the next flight and came to you.”

_An accident with Amy._

Pictures filled Sheldon’s mind. Grotesque and just as sharp as his reality now:

_Water on the floor. Wet, white tiles. Amy under water. His own voice, so shrill and full of fear. Amy’s dead weight as he lifted her out of the tub. And he was screaming her name._

Leonard was kneeling next to him now. He had gripped both of his arms, lightly shaking him. His voice slowly registered in Sheldon’s ringing ears.

“Sheldon? Sheldon, listen to me. Whatever you just saw in your mind, it’s all better now.” Leonard tried to reason. “Amy is here next to you. You’re both okay… right?”

The question at the end caused Sheldon’s stomach to swoop. His lips started shaking.

“It’s okay. We’re listening. We’re here.” Leonard assured him, quickly looking back at Penny and then back at him, both nodding. “Take as much time as you need.”

Sheldon’s hands started shaking, too. He gripped Amy’s much colder one even tighter, his breath hitching as he tried to suck air into his lungs to be able to talk. Sheldon turned away from his friends’ faces. He couldn’t stand their worry and fear on top of his own. Seeing them in panic would make it more real. His other hand clasped around Amy’s, too. He stared into her face. Her eyes were closed. Mercilessly, reality was leaping into his face again like a clawing fist.

“She hit her head.” His first sentence seemed loud to his own ears. His voice sounded so tired and dull.

“She went home… to rest, t-to take a bath. She was… she-she lost…” Sheldon squeezed his eyes shut. His scared heart was beating rapidly in his chest. He could feel their hands on his arms and his back; Leonard’s and Penny’s hands. They weren’t saying a word. “I found her.” Sheldon continued. “Her head was under water. When I pulled her out of the tub… she wasn’t breathing anymore.” He was crying again by now, sobbing ceaselessly. “They brought her back, b-but she’s in a coma now. They-they don’t know… _if_ she can wake up!”

Everything started anew. Everything he went through since he entered Amy’s room. The crying. The sobbing. The gasping for air, because his throat closed up so tightly that it hurt. Again, he was pressing her hands to his face, kissing them and caressing her pale skin. Again, he buried his face against her chest, drenching the fabric of her blanket in hot, salty tears and staying hidden like that until he was so exhausted that he fell asleep.

He didn’t know for how long.

The first time, when his friends woke him, he seemed to have slept through the rest of the night. This time he knew that it was more likely only an hour or two.

And this time he awoke because of a tactile stimulus on the back of his neck. Fingertips were stroking his head and neck. Soft, female fingertips.

Again, Sheldon shot up from his position, staring into her face. “Amy?”

There was an answer, but it wasn’t coming from her lips. “No… I’m sorry, Sweetie. It’s me.”

His hopes perished as quickly as they arose and he turned around. Penny sat in a chair right next to him, her hand still drawing circles on his back. Her eyes were red and puffy and she looked more tired than Sheldon had ever seen her.

Paper ruffled somewhere nearby and Sheldon looked up to see Leonard sitting across from them, closing a newspaper. The lines of worry seemed to be permanently carved into his face. “Buddy, I’m glad you’re awake.” Leonard said. “There was a nurse here earlier. She said that you haven’t eaten since you arrived here. She left you a tray of food.”

He pointed to the drouthy, plastic-covered hospital breakfast that was set on a small table next to the bed. But the only thing Sheldon realized was that this breakfast wasn’t originally meant for him. It was for Amy. The nurse only offered it to him, because Amy wouldn’t eat it. She wasn’t awake.

Without acknowledging Leonard, Sheldon turned back to look into Amy’s face. Oh, how he had wished that it were her fingertips that had stroked him. How he wished she would stir and open her eyes.

_When was the last time she had looked at me?_ Sheldon wondered.

He thought back to Thai food night. Dr. Nowitzki was there. It was actually him who had invited her. The remembrance of that left a sour taste in his mouth. They went over to his and Amy’s apartment alone and then Amy had skyped him. She had said that she was missing him again. He had introduced her to Ramona. Sheldon remembered how Amy’s face immediately fell and how distant and testy she became once she saw them together.

Only now Sheldon understood what Amy must’ve thought. She had sent him to bed and hung up on him rather abruptly. Her usually lively green eyes were full of disappointment and hurt as she closed her laptop.

That was the last time he’d seen her.

Two days ago. And it was _all_ so horribly wrong. He wanted to fix this, make her happy again. But it seemed like he was already too late. Two days was all it took to throw his world into chaos.

Remembering why he came here in the first place made the ring in his pocket seem to burn a hole in his pants, smoldering all the way through his skin and down to his bones. Sheldon fisted the box tightly and it burnt his hand, too. He wasn’t supposed to still have this; that’s why it hurt. Amy should wear it on her finger. She should have said _yes_ already.

“What are you hiding there?” Leonard asked softly, nodding his head at Sheldon’s balled fist.

Sheldon looked at him, then at Amy and back to Leonard and Penny again. They already knew about his Meemaw’s engagement ring. They found out that he had it when he last was at another low point in his life. When the pain was so powerful, he never thought he would ever experience anything like it. Only this time it did hurt worse.

Sheldon decided there was no point in hiding this from his friends. He could just show them that finally… he had been ready.

Letting go of Amy’s hand for a moment, he pulled the ring box out of his pocket. To him it seemed to sizzle and it was hurtful to his touch; like a truly cursed object. It didn’t want to be with him anymore; it belonged to Amy.

Penny gasped when she recognized the box. “Is that…? Did you come here to…?” She covered her mouth with her hands, leaving her sentences unfinished.

“Dr. Nowitzki kissed me in my office yesterday at lunch.” Sheldon explained monotonously. “It felt so wrong. I realized that… A-Amy… is the only woman I ever want to kiss for the rest of my life. So, I boarded a plane and flew here and… and…”

His throat was closing up again. He looked at Amy and he still couldn’t believe that this was happening to her. _To them_. His perfect plan couldn’t possibly end here like this. How full of hope he had been just yesterday as he walked up to her door. How full of nervous anticipation. How he longed for her to be his wife.

“Oh, my god, I can’t believe you were going to propose.” Penny cried.

“Sheldon… I’m so sorry.” Leonard spoke quietly, swallowing his tears down.

Again, Sheldon didn’t really acknowledge his friends. They were like background whispers to the screaming voices inside his head that begged Amy to wake up. He took the ring box that felt poisonous to him and gently placed it in Amy’s left hand. He closed his hands around hers to keep it there.

“It belongs to her.” he whispered. “No matter what happens… this ring will always belong to her.”


	4. One Ring to Pray

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Mostly Penny's POV. Thanks to everyone who reads and please let me know what you think in a comment below! :)

Penny never felt more exhausted in her entire life.

She was sure it must be something about this place, this hospital, that made her feel tired and sick. Wandering the halls and seeing all this weak, suffering people, reminded her of her own mortality.

There were people coughing their lungs out. People wearing masks, bandages and crutches. People who moaned in pain and she felt bad just listening to it. There were busy nurses, pushing people in wheelchairs. Doctors who ran, hurrying to save people’s lives.

And there were people who cried.

People who stood beside the beds of their loved ones, holding their hands and pressing their lips together. Trying to stay strong for them while they were receiving bad news.

People like her.

Penny shivered and rubbed her hands together. They were here for almost a week now and Amy’s condition hasn’t changed yet.

Both, Leonard and Penny, had contacted their workplaces, asking for a leave and Leonard then also called his mother to see if she was willing to provide accommodation so they could stay in Princeton for as long as they were needed.

Penny just hoped that everything would soon return back to the way it was supposed to be. Amy being healthy and engaged to crazy, lovable Sheldon.

Right now, Penny was on her way back to Amy’s room after she took a walk outside. She had been needing a break. From worrying, from seeing people worrying… from just anything really. Taking a walk outside in the fresh air was like stepping into another world. The heavy, somber blanket that lay upon anything inside the hospital lifted and she was able to breathe.

Out there, there were people who didn’t seem to have a care in the world. Happy people who knew nothing about her woes. Who didn’t ask her constantly how Amy was doing. How Sheldon was holding up. Or if she was okay.

But the peace was deceiving.

No matter where Penny was, she was still worrying about Amy and Sheldon. Being outside was actually worse, because her mind cleared up and she was truly able to understand the gravity of this situation.

Dr. Foreman visited them regularly to do check-ups on Amy and he explained to her and Leonard again what exactly had happened. Penny couldn’t believe that just one ill-placed hit to the head could have such terrible consequences. She cursed that stupid professor that Amy apparently ran into and thus caused her injury.

The man had been here once, wanting to see how his colleague was doing. But she and Leonard had urged him to stay outside; they didn’t know how Sheldon would react to seeing the root of all evil. Even though the Princeton professor had been apologetic and Penny knew that it was an accident no one actually was to blame for, she found herself balling her fists and struggling to hold back her anger.

If she was like that, what would Sheldon do to him?

Penny sighed, sinking her head and sidestepping a nurse who pushed a patient down the hallway in a stretcher.

_What would Sheldon do?_

That was the question that kept her up all night. That worried her more than anything. Because if they would, god forbid, lose Amy… what _would_ Sheldon do?

For the past days, he had refused to leave Amy’s side. He crammed his long body next to hers when he was sleeping, he was quietly talking to her without realizing that anybody else was in the room and he kept holding onto her hand as if he was her link back to life. The ring box rested safely beneath Amy’s palm, just waiting to be opened.

Penny and Leonard had tried to talk to him, but he wasn’t saying much. His eyes seemed unfocused whenever he would tear his gaze away from Amy and look up to them. As if he had trouble remembering who they were or when they got here.

Leonard constantly had to remind Sheldon to eat something and when he did manage to convince him, Sheldon only shoved the food around on the plate and ate without real appetite.

Penny noticed how Sheldon’s skin color resembled Amy’s more and more every day. He was even paler than usual and his cheeks were hollow and dull.

Of course, Penny’s heart ached for Amy, too. She didn’t deserve any of this. Amy waited with angelic patience for Sheldon to step up and finally prove to her how much he loved her and instead of pre-marital happiness, she gets a blow to the head and indefinite oblivion.

_If she only knew what awaits her here. If she would only wake up,_ Penny lamented.

She couldn’t stand the thought of her best friend never opening her eyes again. Never making inappropriate, blunt comments about her and Sheldon’s private life. Never telling sad stories about her childhood. Never giggling in absolute glee when she, Penny and Bernadette were gossiping like high schoolers on girl’s night.

Amy was an important, fixed member of their group. They all needed Amy to be okay.

But no one needed her more than Sheldon.

Penny reached the hallway where Amy’s room was located and mentally readied herself for more hours of heavy, sorrowful silence and fruitless attempts to console an inconsolable man.

As she came closer to the glass door, however, she saw Sheldon unusually active. With his free hand that didn’t hold on to Amy, Sheldon was motioning for Leonard to stay away and shaking his head at him. Furrowing her brows, Penny pushed the door open.

“Sheldon, please, just hear me out—” Leonard pleaded.

“No. I’m staying here, Leonard. There’s nothing you can do about it.” Sheldon argued quite irritated.

“Buddy, I’m worried about you. You need to eat something.”

“No, I don’t!” Sheldon stated unreasonably. “I need to be with Amy. I ate breakfast from her tray this morning.”

“You barely took a bite of _one_ slice of bread.” Leonard pointed out, trying to get closer to Sheldon again, but he stretched his arm out, holding him back. “That’s not enough to keep you healthy. You know that.” he said softly.

Squeezing his eyes shut, Sheldon vehemently shook his head again. “Who cares about me?”

“I do.” Both, Leonard and Penny, said simultaneously. Sheldon stubbornly stayed quiet.

Leonard looked up as Penny spoke, visibly relieved to get some help. Penny forced herself to smile reassuringly and came over to her husband. They touched each other’s arms, a silent understanding that she would take over, then Leonard stepped back.

Carefully, Penny lowered herself on the armrest of Sheldon’s chair and gently touched his shoulder. “Hey, Sheldon.” she greeted him.

He flinched at the contact, but other than that showed no sign of noticing her. His eyes were fixed on Amy with an unhealthy amount of concentration. Penny realized that he was not only doing it to avoid looking at any of them, but also because he struggled to keep his eyes open. Dark circles had formed around the redness of his retinas.

“Sheldon, sweetie, why don’t you want to eat something?” Penny asked.

Sheldon blinked and swallowed. His cheeks showed some red blotches from arguing so heatedly. “Leonard wants me to go to the hospital cafeteria. But I can’t leave Amy here.”

“What if I stay with her?” Penny suggested.

His adam’s apple bobbed and he noticeably squeezed Amy’s right hand. “No. I’m sorry, Penny, but that wouldn’t be the same. I-I know you care a lot about her, too, but…” Sheldon’s body began shaking slightly. “I just… I-I can’t… I can’t leave her. If something changes… for the worse a-and I’m not here to…” he swallowed again and whispered, “I can’t leave.”

Penny rubbed his arm. “It’s okay, I understand. But like we just said, Leonard and I are both worried about you, too. And do you know who else is worried sick?” She made a pause, waiting for Sheldon’s curiosity to shine through his cloak of sadness.

“Who?” he finally asked barely audible.

“Amy.” Penny whispered close to his ear. That earned her a turn of his head; at least she got his attention now. But Penny immediately wanted to cry as she saw the pitiful lost look in his eyes. Blue, like a pool on a hot summer day, but sadly just as watery.

Pressing her lips together and breathing deeply through her nose, Penny willed herself to stay strong for him; like all the other people she saw visiting this difficult place. “Just imagine Amy would know what you’re doing to yourself right now. Starving yourself like this. Do you think she would want this?” Penny felt bad for giving him such a bad conscience on top of everything else, but this was vital for his sanity.

Sheldon sunk his head. His thumb drew circles on Amy’s hand. “I guess not.”

“Damn right, she wouldn’t.” Penny sniffled a bit. She could clearly hear Amy’s voice in her head, berating her for letting her sweet baboo vegetate like this for days. “She would want you to stay strong for her until she comes back from this. What good would it be, if Amy wakes up and then she has to worry about _your_ health instead of focusing on getting better?”

Sheldon stayed silent but nodded weakly.

Before he could think too much about it, Penny seized Sheldon’s moment of reason and continued, “So, why don’t you go to the cafeteria with Leonard and eat at least one nutritious meal per day and I stay here with Amy.”

She could see the clogs working in his brain, weighing his options and silently worrying about Amy again.

“I promise, if even her breathing pattern changes, I will call you immediately.” Penny pledged, putting her hand to her chest.

Sheldon’s weary gaze wandered from Amy, to Leonard at the foot of the bed, who nodded with a small smile and finally to Penny. “Okay.” he said quietly.

“Good.” Penny sighed. “Thank you, Sheldon.” She stood up, intending to make room for him, but as Sheldon rose from his chair, his eyes were still fixed on Amy. One hand still clasped around hers and the other reaching up to gently stroke her hair behind her ear. Coming closer to her face, Sheldon mumbled something so quiet, Penny had to strain her ears to catch it:

“Please, don’t worry about me.” Sheldon whispered and then leaned down to press a kiss to Amy’s bandaged forehead.

Penny put her hand in front of her mouth to keep her sob quiet. Then she watched Sheldon straighten up and slowly shuffling towards the door. Leonard patted his back softly and steered him out, mouthing a silent ‘thank you’ in Penny’s direction.

Then Penny was alone with her unmoving best friend. Breathing through once more, she dutifully sat down in Sheldon’s spot and carefully rubbed Amy’s arm.

“You’re going to get through that. You hear me, bestie?” she said.

* * *

“Are you okay?”

Penny snapped out of her thoughts and looked to her left. Sad, brown puppy-dog eyes glanced back at her behind thick rimmed glasses before focusing back on the street ahead. Leonard was driving them home to his mother’s place for the night.

Penny groaned. “Stop asking me that. Of course, I’m not okay. Amy is still unconscious.” she snapped.

“Sorry.” came the contrite response.

Penny closed her eyes for a second and massaged her scalp. “No, I’m sorry for lashing out at you. It’s just… so hard… seeing Sheldon like this. I feel bad every night for leaving him there.”

Leonard glanced at her briefly and caught her hand with his for a moment. “I know. I have a bad feeling, too, but we can’t stay with him 24/7. At least _we_ should rest to be able to take care of him again the next day.”

“I just can’t even begin to imagine how depressed Sheldon must feel to neglect himself like that.” Penny said. “I mean, he doesn’t even realize anymore if we’re in the room with him or not. God, he must be so terrified.” She raked her fingers through her messy, blonde hair and supported her head with her arm against the window.

“I’ve never seen him like this before.” Leonard told her with sad worry. “I thought nothing could be worse than when he was heartbroken and lovesick about Amy ending their relationship, but this… this is so much worse.” Leonard paused, searching for the right word. “It’s like he’s just an empty shell.”

“It can’t be that Amy never wakes up again.” Penny sobbed. “He wanted to propose to her, for crying out loud. This isn’t right.” She wiped a tear from her cheek. “No one deserves to be married more than Amy. No one.”

Leonard was stopping at a red light and leaned over to pull Penny closer to him with an arm around her shoulder. “Hey… it’s okay.” he soothed her, kissing her forehead. “It’s going to be okay. It has to be.”

After they embraced for a while, two things happened at once: The light in front of them turned back to green and Leonard reluctantly had to detangle himself from his sobbing wife to start up the car. And Penny’s phone started to ring.

“Oh.” she said, wiping her tears away and simultaneously fishing for her cell. “It’s Bernadette.” she announced before answering the call. “Hi, Bernie.” she greeted her friend tiredly.

“Penny, we’re all here…”

A chorus of ‘hey’ and ‘how are you doing?’ echoed a little quieter in Penny’s ear. “Hi, Howard. Hey, Raj.” she said, then Bernadette spoke up again.

“We haven’t heard from you all day. Is everything okay? Any updates on Amy?”

Penny sighed. “Oh, Bernie, it’s awful. She’s so pale, she still has that thick bandage around her head and she doesn’t move or respond at all. Sheldon’s a mess.”

“Oh, no… poor guy.” Bernadette said quietly. “Is he at least talking more to you guys?”

“Less actually.” Penny replied. “Although, today, Leonard and I managed to get him out of the room for a short time to eat something at the hospital cafeteria. I had to promise to stay with Amy, but when he returned there was at least a little more color back in his face.”

“Crap. That bad, huh?” Howard wanted to know.

“Guys, I swear to you, if something doesn’t change soon, we’ll lose Sheldon, too.”

“No, Penny, don’t say things like that.” Raj whined.

“I’m telling you, he’s already more dead than alive.” Penny worried. “He hardly ever sleeps a full night, he’s not eating if we don’t remind him to and he’s paler than a ghost. The only time life returns to him is when the doctor comes in for check-ups or when we try to make him leave Amy’s side. Which he vastly refuses, by the way.”

“Oh, it would be so romantic if it wasn’t so horrible.”

“Not the time, Raj.” Howard reminded his buddy sternly.

“I know.” Raj sobbed. “I can’t cope with this.”

“Anyway…” Bernadette took over the conversation again. “If you or Leonard need anything, please let us know, okay?”

“Thank you.” They both replied.

“Same goes for Sheldon. If he wants us to send him something from home to… make his stay at the hospital more bearable… just tell us.”

“That’s nice of you, guys.” Penny said. “But I guess everything Sheldon really needs is already here.” All of the friends stayed quiet for a moment, knowing exactly what… or more precisely _who_ she was talking about. Then Penny cleared her throat. “Well, I’m sure you’re quite busy, too, now… you know, with baby number two on the way.”

The news of Bernadette’s surprising second pregnancy was like a silver lining on the otherwise dark horizon of bad news. Even though the parents both freaked out a bit at first, their panic seemed insignificant to them once they heard about Amy.

“Don’t worry…” Bernadette answered with an audible soft smile. “We manage. Just call us immediately with any updates.”

Leonard was pulling into the driveway of Beverly Hofstadter’s house and put the car into park. “We will.” said Penny. “Bernie, we have to go now. I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?” she wanted to hang up when Bernadette urgently called her name again.

“One more thing.” she said. “Take it as an advice from a mother if you will. If you’re worrying so much about Sheldon’s condition… maybe you should call _his_ mother. I think she’s the only person who'd be able to help him right now.”

* * *

Mary Cooper exited the backseat of the taxi cab and let the driver lift her bags out of the trunk. She thanked him and paid the young man before turning around with a worried frown upon her face. She started walking through a small green park in front of the Princeton Plainsboro Teaching Hospital.

Her bags weren’t heavy; she always managed to travel light. But the weight of her heart was slowing her steps down. Yesterday, she received a very awkward, worried phone call from Leonard Hofstadter, the nice young man who looked after her baby almost since he moved to California.

In the past he had called now and then to get some advice from her when he couldn’t handle Sheldon in certain situations, but those calls had gotten a lot less frequent since the extraordinary Amy Farrah Fowler came into Sheldon’s life. She never needed Mary’s advice and seemed to have her very own way of handling the stubborn man that has become of her youngest son.

That’s why Mary was delightfully surprised to hear from Leonard again. It had taken him quite some time and sheepish stuttering until the young scientist came out with the news that something terrible had happened to Amy and that they were all worried about Sheldon’s reaction.

Mary didn’t need to hear more. Anxiously, she packed her essentials and immediately headed to New Jersey where all of this took place. Now, she craned her neck as she came closer to the hospital’s entrance doors. Finally, she spotted the short, bespectacled man who nervously picked on his fingernails and paced up and down the entrance way.

“Leonard, dear.” she called out and he lifted his head and saw her.

“Mrs. Cooper, I’m so glad you’re here.” he sighed audibly and it seemed as if the weight of the world was momentarily lifted from his shoulders.

It worried Mary all the more. _The state Shelly must be in for him to be so relieved to see me…_

“I’m glad, too, Leonard. But I wish you had called me sooner.”

Politely, Leonard took the bags from her not meeting her eyes. “I-I know. I’m so sorry. We did call Amy’s parents as soon as we heard, but Amy’s father isn’t healthy enough to fly at the moment, so they can’t be here right now. We should’ve thought of calling you, too, but… with everything that happened, w-we seem to have forgotten.”

“It’s okay, dear.” Mary assured him, touching the flighty man’s arm. “I’m here now. Where are they?”

Leonard led her through the sterile hallways of the hospital and informed her on the way what exactly had happened and why Sheldon traveled to New Jersey in the first place.

She couldn’t say that she was surprised. She knew from the first time she met Amy that she was a very special young lady. The couple just needed some gentle steering. And when they visited her together just a few months ago for Christmas, Mary could see how deeply in love they were. Amy unconditionally took Sheldon’s side when Mary made some thoughtless comments about her son’s future and Sheldon was so considerate of Amy’s feelings when he thought Mary unintentionally insulted her, too.

That’s when she knew that Amy was the one for him. The one she never thought he’d find. And now all of that was in jeopardy again.

“Hi, Mrs. Cooper. I’m so glad you’re here.” Penny greeted Mary in front of a sliding glass door with just as much relieve as her husband Leonard.

“I’m glad you called.” she responded again, giving her a quick hug. “Now, where’s my baby?” Mary turned around and saw him. His back was facing her, but alone from his posture she could tell that he was miserable. He lost that confident way of how he normally held his head and shoulders. Now, everything was slumping down, making him look so much smaller.

“He just started talking to her again.” Penny mentioned quietly. “That’s why I waited outside. I felt like I was disturbing a private moment.”

Mary didn’t listen to Sheldon’s pretty blonde friend anymore. Carefully, she opened the glass door and then closed it again behind her. With her hands clasped in front of her she stood in the room silently and unnoticed by her son, who murmured soft pleads to the white ghost beside him. The sight of the once strong, quirky woman shocked Mary to the core.

“Shelly?” she spoke up gently.

The murmuring stopped abruptly and for a long moment, Sheldon froze. Then he slowly turned around. “Mom?”

The next shock to Mary’s heart as she saw her son’s creased, wan face and heard the thin, fragile shiver in his voice. In all of his life, she’d never seen him like this. “Oh, Shelly, I heard what happened. I’m so sorry.” she said, fighting the tears in her voice and automatically opened her arms for him.

Sheldon’s lips started trembling violently. Slowly, as if every muscle in his body protested, he straightened himself, came those few steps over to her and then promptly fell into her arms, breaking out in heart-clenching sobs.

Mary struggled to hold him, but she managed. Her son’s long body usually towered over her, but now he seemed so weak and small that he merely clung to her shoulders, drenching the fabric of her flowery dress in tears.

“M-Mom…” he sobbed helplessly. “She-She’s in a coma. They don’t know if she can wake up again. I-I… I can’t do… anything. S-She… I wanted to…”

“Shh, it’s okay, baby. It’s okay, I know.” Mary whispered, wrapping her arms tightly around him and kissing his cheek.

“It’s _Amy_ , Mom.” he whispered back, emphasizing on her name as if Mary wouldn’t know her. “It’s my Amy. I c-can’t… lose her.”

“I know, baby, I know. It’s okay. I’m here.” Mary was crying now, too, but Sheldon didn’t seem to notice. He buried his face at her neck and suddenly he was this scared little nine-year-old boy again, clinging to her waist as a tornado hit their house.

But this time something a lot more precious to Sheldon could be destroyed in the storm. His first, and Mary knew, also his only true love. And nothing and nobody could rebuild the ruins of his heart if he should lose her. Not even his own mother. Mary held him tighter, scared by this thought.

“If you want to…” Mary said, holding Sheldon by his shoulders and wiping the tears from her eyes. “We could pray for her.”

Sheldon nodded. His eyes looked so tired and lost. “I’d love to, Mom.”

Together, they walked over to Amy’s bedside and knelt down on the floor. Mary watched as Sheldon gingerly took her hand in his and closed his eyes. Beneath Amy’s left hand she spotted the ring box that held her own mother’s engagement ring and that she had sent to Sheldon two years ago. _So much time in which Amy could’ve been his already…_

Mary closed her own eyes and sent a prayer to the ineffable man she believed in with all of her heart:

_Lord, please don’t take this wonderful woman away from my son. He may not put as much trust in you as I do, but he trusts in her and he loves her like he’s never loved anyone before. Please, have mercy on them both. They need each other._


	5. One Ring to Hope

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't be shy, dear readers... leave comments! :)
> 
> This chapter starts with a flashback...

_The taxi had been waiting downstairs._

_A short Romanian man with black hair which thinned at the crown of his head, leaned against his cab, smoking a cigarette. But now that he saw his customer approaching, he quickly flipped it to the curbside and motioned to help with the lady’s suitcase._

_Amy handed him her bag and then slowly turned around. “So… this is it.” she said._

_“I’m afraid so.” Sheldon answered. Without even realizing it, he had instinctively reached for her hands and interlaced her fingers with his, lightly swinging them between their bodies._

_For a moment, nothing else registered in Sheldon’s mind but Amy’s deep green eyes right in front of him, shining with nervous excitement. He was so proud of her for doing this research fellowship at Princeton. But at the same time, he wanted nothing more than to hold her and never let her go away._

_“Remember to call me at least twice a day… or better yet, skype me so I can see your face.” Sheldon told her again._

_Amy smiled widely. “I will.”_

_“And you’ll text me when you board the plane?”_

_“Yes, I will even text you once more right before I have to turn off my phone.” Amy promised._

_“Good.” Sheldon nodded._

_The cab driver cleared his throat. “Going now?” he asked and opened the door for Amy._

_“Just a minute.” she told him. The man nodded, closed the door again and got into the driver’s seat. Amy’s gaze wandered back up to Sheldon._

_And suddenly, without needing to say another word, she was in his arms. She stood on her tiptoes, hands slung around his neck while he wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her as close to him as she could possibly be. He leaned his head against her soft, brown hair, inhaling her scent one last time._

_“I’m going to miss you.” he declared. The confession stumbled quickly past his lips. As if he wanted to get the words out before his mind could interfere and make him stay quiet._

_Sheldon could feel how Amy’s warm body hugged him even tighter, almost asphyxiating him as she pressed her face against his neck. But he didn’t mind at all._

_“I’m going to miss you, too.” she whispered._

_The hug was over. Sheldon noticed how Amy stepped back from him inch by inch. Out of nowhere, panic overcame him and he swiftly grabbed her arms to keep her from moving further away and bent down to kiss her lips._

_Albeit a little startled at first, Amy reciprocated. Once again, she melted into his arms, willingly met his kiss and moved her lips in sync with his._

_They only parted when air became absolutely necessary and still stayed close to one another, arms wrapped around each other’s waist._

_“Hoo.” said Amy with a breathy laugh, eyes still closed. “It feels like my heart is going to explode.”_

_Sheldon touched her forehead with his, closing his own eyes once more and breathing deeply. Wordlessly, he took her left hand, lifted it to the middle of his chest and pressed it flatly against it, holding it there._

_He could feel Amy’s smile against him._

_“I love you, too.” she said._

* * *

Sheldon didn’t fully realize that he was waking up from a dream. To him, all those feelings seemed fresh and real, like it was actually happening right now.

Pleasant warmness coursed through his body. His heart was pumping rapidly, spreading the sensation. His stomach tingled and his mind spun just a little bit too fast. All because he loved her so much and knowing that she returned those feelings, already made him long for her to come back.

Then he noticed that he was holding her _now_... _Amy is here now._ With a smile Sheldon’s hand wandered down her arm until he reached her hand.

It was cold.

Sheldon’s smile instantly vanished as he opened his eyes and realized again where he was.

Amy’s lips were thin and inexpressive. She hasn’t felt anything in a long time now. Honestly… he hasn’t, either. No pain or hunger or exhaustion. No love. Or was that the only thing he’s been able to feel? Was it so all-consuming that he never even realized anymore that his love for her made him also feel this emptiness within him? Because, right now, she couldn’t return this feeling.

How long has it been? Two weeks? Three?

Sheldon couldn’t tell. Time was blurring together to a single span of anxiousness. Dreams were the only possibility to escape the sadness. In a way, he assumed, it was as if his mind was trying to keep him sane by allowing him to experience these vivid dreams. Remembering the time when Amy was awake and lively and apparently nothing could harm her.

However, it didn’t make the moment of waking up any easier.

“Shelly? Honey, you fell asleep again.” a comfortably familiar voice spoke to him. Mary touched his shoulder with worry in her eyes. She tried to mask it, though, by smiling softly at him.

Slowly, Sheldon sat up from where he was lying next to Amy’s still body. He rubbed his tired, weary eyes and yawned. Then he checked on her.

Every day these past weeks, when Sheldon woke up from his fitful sleep, he proceeded to look for changes in Amy. He stroked down her arms, waiting for a reaction of her muscles. He touched her cheek or forehead with his lips to estimate if her skin has gotten any warmer. And he always greeted her in hopes that she would hear him and respond.

It was his new daily routine. Something that normally comforted Sheldon. But this time he wished for nothing more than a disruption of this procedure.

“Good morning, Amy.” he whispered this time.

“It’s almost two in the afternoon, baby.” Mary mentioned carefully.

As if that would matter to any of them. As if that would change his routine; him checking on her and her not responding at all. “I didn’t notice.” Sheldon said to his mom.

“I thought so.” she answered glumly.

Sheldon stood up and went into the small bathroom adjoining to Amy’s hospital room to void his bladder and wash his face. Then he returned back to her side, taking her hand and massaging it in his. Sheldon was aware that his mother’s eyes were on him the whole time. He could practically feel the comment rising within her.

“I know that you don’t want to hear this, but I think it would be better for you if you came home with me for a while.”

Home, meaning Amy’s rental apartment where Mary settled down for the time she was staying here. The scene of the accident. The blood in Sheldon’s veins ran cold.

_Running water. Amy, naked on the white tile floor. Her lips blueish, her skin cold. And he was trying to resurrect her._

Sheldon closed his eyes, shivering. Those pictures would never leave him. No matter what happened, he knew he would never forget.

His mother’s wrinkly, warm hand enclosed over his and Amy’s. “I’m sorry.” she said. “I know the memories are still haunting you.”

“Then why do you constantly bring it up?”

“Because you haven’t slept for more than four hours straight ever since all of this happened.” Mary desperately tried to reason… not for the first time. “Shelly, you need to rest properly. You need to clear your mind from all of this, at least for a short time.”

“And what makes you think I can possibly do that… _there_?” Sheldon emphasized. “Where it happened. Do you really believe I would be able to clear my mind or sleep any better without Amy by my side?” His voice rose. Also, not for the first time during these kinds of arguments.

Mary sighed sadly and put on one of her brave smiles. “I know. I’m sorry, baby, I’m just trying to help.”

“I know that, Mom.” he said, settling down again. Sighing, he willed himself to let go of Amy’s hand and hold his mother’s instead. “I know that you’re trying to help.” he repeated, looking straight into her eyes. The dark-brown irises conveyed so much warmness and comfort that Sheldon felt like a little boy again.

He guessed that he would always be a little boy to his mother. The way she looked at him was proof of that. And yet, looking at her reminded him of Amy’s unconditional love and acceptance. Before Amy, he thought only his mother could look at him like that.

Like answering an inaudible call, Sheldon bent forward and leaned his head against his mother’s shoulder. Immediately, she wrapped her arms around him and held him there. “I’m sorry… f-for yelling.” Sheldon hushed, wet lines running down his cheeks. He didn’t realize that he had started crying again.

“It’s okay. I understand.” Mary said. “But I can’t help but worry about my little boy and I will never stop worrying.”

 _There, she said it_ , Sheldon thought. He straightened himself, wiping his tears away. “And I will never stop worrying about Amy.” he said and turned his body back to her, grabbing Amy’s hand again.

 _She would’ve loved to hear that from me,_ Sheldon mused, sinking back into his other daily routine; the constant mulling over what Amy would’ve said and done if she were able to hear him. _Maybe she can. Maybe she can read my mind. It certainly feels like she can sometimes…_

“That’s all I’m going to get out of you today, isn’t it?” Mary questioned. Her voice seemed lighter, as if she was trying to entice him to keep talking. But Sheldon was already too far away with his thoughts to answer.

* * *

Later that day, there was a change of shifts. Not the change of the nurses – although it could’ve been that, too, but to Sheldon they all looked the same – but the change of the person who looked after him.

It was only Leonard this time, shuffling into the room in that sheepish way of his and hugging Mary as if he was part of the family. Well, he was in a way…

He carried his iPad with him and talked quietly with Mary for a bit. Then she took her bag, hugged Sheldon, too and kissed his cheek.

“I’ll take off now, but I’ll come back tomorrow, alright, Shelly?”

Sheldon wanted to nod, but right now he was lost in a daydream about Amy’s hair. He hadn’t seen much of it for a while because it was hidden beneath her bandage and he missed running his fingers through it. Vividly, he tried to envision the soft texture as it caressed his fingertips and fell from her shoulders like a chocolate waterfall. Amy’s hair was shiny when the sun hit it with the right angle. He also missed the smell of it; clean and warm and somehow reminding him of fresh tea leaves and old books.

The door to Amy’s room opened once more, startling Sheldon back to reality.

“Oh, doctor, good that you’re here.” he heard his mother say on her way out. “Maybe you can talk some sense into him.”

“Uhm… I guess I can try.” said Dr. Foreman a little confused before he came closer to Amy. He read the nurse’s report for the day from the clipboard at the end of her bed. “I’m sorry that I’m dropping by so late today. There was another case that needed my attention but I still wanted to check in on Amy before I go.”

The doctor started to examine her without waiting for a reply. _Well, at least he gets it_ , thought Sheldon. With Dr. Foreman there was never any pressure to talk. His cold detachment and precise, confident movements gave him an air of authority and calmness which comforted Sheldon.

Unlike Leonard, who apparently couldn’t seem to stand the silence. “I think he doesn’t even notice that it’s later than usual.” he mentioned dejectedly.

Dr. Foreman looked up after he checked Amy’s pupils, gazing directly at Sheldon for a second. “I guess what your mother meant when she left was that you continue to refuse leaving the room?”

“Everything I need is right here.” Sheldon heard himself say, surprised about his willingness to explain this once again.

“I see.” said the doctor with a small smile. “You know, since your mother insisted so fiercely, I’m obligated to tell you that there’s nothing you can do at the moment. We’re taking good care of your fiancée and you would be the first one to know when her condition changes… so, you really could go home.”

 _Fiancée_.

The word echoed in Sheldon’s mind, making his heart burn. That’s the first time someone had addressed Amy by that title. _Is he purposefully trying to hurt me?_ “She is my girlfriend.” he corrected sadly; eyes fixed on the ring box in Amy’s motionless hand.

“Technically… yes.” said Dr. Foreman. “But everyone is hoping that she will be your fiancée one day. I mean, you’re here since almost three weeks and you hardly ever left the room. The nurses started talking and I believe the whole hospital knows about your story by now. That must count for something, right?”

Sheldon blinked slowly, not sure what to make of this statement. He turned his gaze to Leonard who sat next to him and smiled. So, assumingly, there was no reason to be offended. What then? Flattered? Why exactly? Because people, neither him nor Amy knew, seemed to care about them?

In his wonderment Sheldon didn’t realize that Dr. Foreman had eventually left the room until Leonard brought him out of his trance.

“That’s amazing. I wouldn’t have thought that people take notice of that.” he said.

“I don’t understand.” Sheldon voiced bluntly. “Why do they care? If the hospital staff worried about things like that with every patient, they would certainly be depressed all their lives. Why are they doing this?”

Obviously happy that Sheldon was this talkative today, Leonard straightened in his seat with a smile on his face. “Well, I guess they’ve noticed how much you care about Amy. It’s so obvious from your actions; that’s what makes it special.”

“But it won’t increase Amy’s chances of waking up.” Sheldon stated rationally.

“Maybe not.” Leonard mused, looking at Amy with fondness. “But it’s the thought that counts. To me it feels like the more people are praying for her, the stronger she will become.”

 _Praying?_ Sheldon must’ve misheard. Leonard didn’t believe in higher beings just like he didn’t, either. That was something he expected his mother to say not his best friend. And yet, in this grave time of hopelessness, even a scientist like Leonard wanted to believe in miracles. In fact, hasn’t Sheldon willingly prayed with his mother, too? What did all of this mean?

Leonard seemed to sense his confusion and pulled up his iPad again. “Here… maybe this will help you understand.” He opened a video chat and soon two familiar faces filled the screen.

“Hey. Hi, Sheldon.” Howard and Raj said, waving into the camera.

“Hello.” Sheldon answered without emotion. It didn’t stop his friends from smiling encouragingly.

“So… as it turns out, we really miss you and Amy here.” Howard told him, acting playfully surprised about this fact to lighten the mood. But Sheldon couldn’t find the right words to reply.

“How are you holding up?” asked Raj.

That question also stumped him. Sheldon opened and closed his mouth for a few times. How could he possibly answer to this in mere words? “What do you think?” he eventually shot back.

“Sorry, I know this must be hell for you.” Raj said apologetic. “But we’re all here for you, buddy.”

“Guys, tell Sheldon about what Kripke did.” Leonard chimed in.

Sheldon scrunched up his brows, frowning; the first clearly visible emotion in a long time. _Kripke? Really? First, he talks about praying then about this dislikable person. Is maybe Leonard the one losing his mind?_

“Just listen to them.” Leonard said upon seeing Sheldon’s confused face.

“Well…” Howard started narrating. “Kripke was looking for you because of some figures he wanted to compare. But since you obviously stopped showing up a work, he asked us about you and we told him what happened.”

“He was so shocked.” Raj interjected. “I think I’ve never seen that man so honestly worried about someone. He even seemed concerned about you.”

Sheldon lightly shook his head in protest. “I find that hard to believe.”

“It’s true.” Howard said. “It was also Kripke who put up a sign in the cafeteria where everyone can light a candle for Amy and send her get-well wishes. Almost everyone does that now on the way out.”

Sheldon stared unblinking at his friends. So many emotions and questions popped up in his head that he struggled to form them to words. So many people, thinking about Amy. So many people, wishing them luck when they really must know that they couldn’t possibly influence Amy’s recovery. But still, they were doing it.

Sheldon realized that Howard and Raj wanted to say more, but he couldn’t hear them anymore. He was overwhelmed by so much care. Leonard eventually talked to them, ended the call and then addressed him again.

“You see… you’re not alone in this struggle.” he said. “Many people are willing to share your burden. We’re all here to support you… don’t shut us out.” he added shyly.

Suddenly, Sheldon looked up to his ex-roommate. It was as if he was waking up from his longest dream yet and only now he could see. There was not only concern, but also love for Amy in Leonard’s eyes. Not such a love as he felt for her, but love, nonetheless.

Sheldon turned to look outside the glass door and right enough… there were two nurses, looking in and talking with worried frowns on their faces. One of them quickly averted her eyes, but the other one held his gaze, stepping a bit closer to the door when she knew she was noticed. She had a darker skin tone and a black head of curly hair. Sheldon was sure he had seen her before.

_Lorraine._

Her name suddenly popped into Sheldon’s mind. The desk nurse who voluntarily cared for him so well upon his arrival. Lorraine was smiling as encouraging as she did back then and she was waving timidly.

Sheldon smiled back. _Oh…_ he had forgotten how it was to smile.

His heart still felt heavy and sad, but suddenly he knew… suddenly he saw… that he wasn’t alone. And even though those people could do nothing in the end to help Amy, Sheldon felt strengthened by the fact that they were there to catch him should he fall back into this bitter black hole of depressed sadness.

Sheldon may never believe in miracles or prayers, but as Leonard and Dr. Foreman had already said: If there are so many people strongly believing that Amy will wake up and wear that ring… that must count for something… right? And Sheldon certainly didn’t believe in curses, either, no matter how many times he already tried and failed to propose.

Swiftly, he turned back to his sleeping bride-to-be and carefully plucked the ring box from her hand. He opened it, watching for a moment how the ring glittered in the light. Then he reached for Amy’s left hand and gently put the ring on her finger.

It was a perfect fit.

He stroked his knuckles over her cheek and kissed the corner of her mouth. Then he sat back down, holding her hand.

But this time everything felt different.

It wasn’t a routine that had yet led him to nothing. It wasn’t just emptiness he felt inside of him now. His heart wasn’t constricting in pain anymore when he looked at the ring.

The people who lingered in front of this hospital room, the people he called his friends and the people back at home who thought of Amy… they all showed him a new meaning to this which he had almost forgotten in all of his grief:

Hope.


	6. One Ring to Fight

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all who gave kudos and comments! I hope you'll enjoy the next chapter, because now I'm bringing in the infamous Dr. House! :) For those who don't know him, he's practically an older, grumpier version of the early Sheldon, but he's just as arrogant and exceptionally talented in his field. For those who do know the show "House M.D.", this would take place in the second half of season 7, after Huddy ;(

The man was sitting on a bench in the hallway, staring at the closed blinds of a patient’s room in boredom. His hands rested on his cane and his stubbly gray chin rested on his hands.

He was a doctor here at the Princeton Plainsboro; the best damn doctor this hospital ever had. Everyone knew that, but nobody would ever give him the satisfaction of complimenting him. He was arrogant enough.

The doctor knew the patient behind the closed blinds. Not personally, he only read about her in neuroscience magazines. A brilliant woman and yet foolish enough to eventually die from a head injury. The doctor found the irony hilarious; he knew he was probably the only one thinking that.

He also knew the idiot who refused to leave her bedside for almost a month now. He was in there right now, assisting the nurse in bathing the patient. Hence the closed blinds.

The doctor stood up, heavily supporting his weight on his cane as he did so and proceeding to lean on it as he walked over to the glass window. Of course, he couldn’t see through the blinds but that didn’t matter to him right now.

He was deep in thoughts.

The people around him, colleagues, he didn’t bother remembering by their names, avoided him. No one that didn’t have to, wanted to strike up a conversation with him. They also didn’t care enough to wonder why he was standing there, aimlessly staring.

Which was fine by him. He was in a bad mood anyway.

He didn’t have a case that interested him enough to waste time on it and the only person who could still make him go to his own office and do his job was purposely avoiding him, too.

Cuddy. His boss. His girlfriend… oh, no, wait… his _ex_ -girlfriend.

His mood darkened.

The doctor’s thoughts circled back to the idiot in the patient’s room. Only that he really wasn’t an idiot; he was a genius. An expert on his field of theoretical physics. The doctor had read about him, too. Despite not having such an impressively wide knowledge in physics, the doctor was still fascinated by the way this man, Cooper, wrote his articles.

He could tell from the cold precision in his words, the confidence in his use of scientific terminologies and the undeniably strong capability to pursue logic that this Dr. Cooper was a man similar to his own caliber. A brilliant analyst. A man who believed in facts.

And now what had become of him?

When the doctor heard of Foreman’s new patient, he was only interested because he knew her name: Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler. Foreman, a neurologist himself, had often mentioned her articles to him. Once he even attended a symposium where Dr. Fowler spoke.

Curious, after he got wind of the fuss everyone made over Fowler’s case and her remarkably loyal spouse, the doctor had coincidentally strolled by her room one day to see for himself what had everybody gossiping in the hallways.

He was surprised to find that he recognized the pathetic wimp, who was grasping Fowler’s hand, from a picture in Science Today. _That_ was supposed to be the genius physicist he admired?

The doctor didn’t know that the two were an item.

_Idiot._

Of course, _love_ would reduce him to this picture of misery. _Love_ was leading him down this path of illogic and insanity.

The doctor was thinking of Cuddy, getting even angrier.

_Love_ had made _him_ curious for this case. _Love_ had made _him_ emotional.

Suddenly, the blinds were pulled back and the nurse on the other side of the window jumped when she saw the doctor’s cold, bitter eyes staring right back at her. When she calmed down from the shock, she had a look of clear annoyance on her face.

Dr. Cooper had looked up from his place next to the bed when the nurse was startled and now gazed directly at the doctor through the window.

His eyes were bright blue, just as the doctor’s. From the confused but calculating glance, the doctor could detect a hint of Cooper’s intelligence, which was now wasted on the unconscious woman beside him. _What a pity…_

The sliding door opened and closed and the nurse stepped outside, coming directly towards him. Both blue-eyed men hadn’t broken the gaze, yet.

“Dr. House,” she said sternly and the doctor was distracted. “Don’t you dare stepping into this room. The poor man has enough trouble getting through the day without having to deal with the likes of you.”

“Oh, and by trouble I suppose you mean the horrible strain of sitting there waiting for the inevitable while he’s starving himself, so that he can ultimately rest with her forever when the time comes?” House grumbled sarcastically.

The nurse looked at him icily. “You wouldn’t understand. Just stay away from him.”

With that she walked away, leaving him staring into the room again. Cooper had already focused back on his beloved. He seemed to have forgotten that anyone except her even existed.

I _wouldn’t understand?_ the doctor thought to himself. _Oh, yes, I do! And I will make_ him _understand, too…_

* * *

Leonard and Penny were returning to Amy’s room, their clasped hands swinging back and forth between them. Leonard just arrived in New Jersey again after spending a few days back home. Penny had been home the week before him, catching up on work and telling their friends about the latest updates on Amy. Although, there wasn’t much to tell.

She was still in a coma.

Pasty white and still and silent.

Leonard had to admit that when he was in the room, focusing all his energy on Sheldon, he sometimes forgot that Amy was still there. He felt absolutely horrible and guilty when he realizes his mistake, but it still happened now and then.

_Because it has been such a long time already,_ he told himself. But that didn’t excuse his slip-up.

If Sheldon knew he was even remotely thinking about giving up, he would never forgive him. Now, that Leonard finally managed to get him to talk more, it was vital to keep him hopeful, keep him open and receptive for everyone’s support…

For the possibility that the worst case occurred.

When they arrived at Amy’s room, Penny let go of his hand to push the door open. Upon entering behind her, Leonard’s gaze fell on a middle-aged man who was supporting himself on a cane and stared at Sheldon and Amy through the glass.

Leonard furrowed his brows. _I could swear that I’ve seen him before_ , he wondered. But then they were already inside the room.

“Hey, sweetie.” Penny greeted their friend. “Bath time over?”

Sheldon looked up, smiling slightly. “Yes.” His gaze fell on Leonard and his weak smile grew just a tiny bit more. “Leonard. You’re back.”

Leonard returned the smile, unbelievably grateful and relieved that his best friend was able to show happy emotions again. Even if only for a little while. “Yeah, buddy, I’m back. Penny just picked me up from the airport.”

“I’m glad.” Sheldon said. His smile was fading again as he turned his eyes back to Amy. But to Leonard it still felt like a huge improvement compared to the weeks before.

“How is everything back home?” Sheldon asked quietly, not looking up.

Leonard’s eyes widened and he shared an excited look with Penny. Sheldon was showing interest in the outside world… that was like winning the lottery these days. “Uhm, all is fine.” Leonard said quickly, trying to sound nonchalant. “Everyone I met was asking about Amy. Raj, Howard and Bernadette, of course. But also Stuart, President Siebert, Mrs. Petresku from downstairs, Bert Kibbler and a few other colleagues from work.”

Silence.

Sheldon reached up to stroke Amy’s hair behind her ear with gentle fingers. It was new to Leonard to see her without her bandage. They must have removed it just recently.

“It’s nice that they’re thinking of her.” Sheldon said then.

“Yes. You should see all the candles in the cafeteria. It looks beautiful.” Leonard said.

Nothing.

He exchanged a look with Penny again who indicated that he should keep talking. “Uh, I… I brought you some of Amy’s favorite books from your apartment. Your mom thought it might be a good idea to read to Amy. Maybe that could wake her up.”

Sheldon watched as Leonard pulled the books out of his messenger bag and stacked them upon Amy’s bedside table. Some of them were scientific journals, some of them old English literature. Deliberately, Sheldon picked up one, looked at it and stroked fondly over the cover.

The Canterbury Tales. Amy’s favorite book.

“Amy, look…” Sheldon spoke softly, taking her hand. “Now you do get me to read this book, after all. You must be pleased, right?”

Amy’s lips stayed sealed. The steady beeping of her heart rate monitor and her soft, inaudible breaths were the only response.

After a beat of silence, Sheldon looked up to his friends. “Thank you.” he said to Leonard. “Will my mom come by today so I can thank her, too?” he asked.

“Yes. She told me she would visit this afternoon.” Penny said. As she talked her gaze randomly drifted over to the window, seeing that the man, Leonard noticed before, was still there. “Hey, uhm, by the way… do you know this guy outside, Sheldon? He keeps staring at you.”

Sheldon briefly looked around. “No. But he has been here before.” he said neutrally.

“Ha, I knew he looked familiar.” Leonard exclaimed, staring outside now, too.

Obviously realizing that they were talking about him, prompted the man to move towards the door.

“He’s coming in.” Penny whispered in confusion.

Warily, they all watched as the man entered, walked a few steps into the room and then stood still just a few feet away from Sheldon and Amy.

Leonard noticed how cold this stranger’s eyes seemed; his look gave absolutely nothing away. The icy, cool blueness somehow reminded Leonard of the day he first set foot in apartment 4A. When the door opened and he took his very first glance into his best friend’s eyes; a picture of intelligence and indifference.

Right now, both men stared at each other in calm, calculating silence.

Feeling a bit uncomfortable, obviously, Penny eventually took one step forward. “Uhm, excuse me… do you need anything? This is a private room.”

“I’m a doctor.” The graying man grumbled gruffly without even looking at her.

“A doctor?” Penny scoffed. “Yeah, right. You’re not even wearing a white coat.”

Now he did turn towards her, somewhat exasperated. As if she wasn’t worth his attention. “Because I don’t want to. That’s how good I am.” he said, lifting one edge of his buttoned shirt a bit to make a laminated ID card visible that hung from his jean pocket.

Penny blinked a little taken aback. “Well, if you’re a doctor then why are you here?” she asked with clear annoyance in her voice.

“Can you tell us something about Amy?” Leonard added before his wife could get any more hostile.

Unhurried, the limping doctor’s eyes traveled back to Sheldon. “I can tell you…” he said to him callously. “that she is probably going to die.”

_“What?!”_ Both, Penny and Leonard, exclaimed in horror. Leonard immediately saw how Sheldon’s face ashened all at once. His hand tightened around Amy’s and his eyes widened in fear.

“W-What?” he breathed out faintly.

“She’s been in a coma for 34 days, not reacting to any kind of external stimuli.” The doctor talked on as unconcerned as if he was talking about the weather. “The chances of waking up are diminishing rapidly after several weeks, but I bet you already knew that… you’re not that stupid, are you?”

Leonard watched this conversation develop with his mouth agape. Too shocked to believe what he was hearing.

The doctor continued. “I’ve read about you. A supposed once in a lifetime genius mind… and yet, here you are. Uselessly sitting at the bedside of your dying girlfriend.”

The doctor cocked his head to the side with a sardonic smile on his face that seemed to pity Sheldon. “A genius brought down by illogic and hopeless sentiments.” He took a step forward. “Tell me, doctor of physics, do you really believe that you sitting here would change anything? That she would miraculously grab your hand, recognizing the love of her life?” he mocked. And then, suddenly, his eyes darkened so much as if he was furious with Sheldon. “You’re a respectable man and a scientist.” he said. “How can you be so stupid?”

He ended his speech with this question.

Nobody moved; they were frozen in shock.

Penny, next to Leonard, was opening and closing her mouth, breathing audibly and obviously trying to wrap her head around all that has been said. Leonard knew that she was probably thinking about hitting this man, either, verbally or physically.

He just wanted to grab her arm to hold her back, when something unforeseeable happened that stalled his movement.

Sheldon was standing up.

Slowly, without breaking eye contact with that awful man, he straightened himself until he was just a few inches taller than him. Amy’s hand slipped from his and he was instead clenching it tightly to a fist. His knuckles turned white, the rest pulsed red.

Leonard breathed in, realizing what would follow. He took a step forward, but that’s when it already happened.

Sheldon’s fist swung forward, quicker and harder than Leonard ever thought his friend was capable of, and it connected violently with the doctor’s face. The force of it had him stumble backwards, losing balance on his bad leg and crashing to the ground where he slid back and eventually came to a stop, holding a bleeding nose.

Sheldon stood above him, unblinking and barely even wincing in pain. That’s when Leonard finally reached him, firmly putting a hand upon his arm. “Hey, hey, easy, buddy. It’s alright, calm down.” he said softly but with determination.

Penny sprang forward, too. But her target was the bleeding doctor on the ground. “Who the hell do you think you are!” she yelled at him, unleashing all of her Nebraskan anger. “Crazy bastard! You’re not talking to any of my friends like that!”

What followed was a string of very colorful expletives that Leonard had never heard before and that would send Sheldon’s mother straight to church, praying for a week. _Thank god, she didn’t witness this._

But Leonard tuned out the cursing. His task was a different one now. “Sheldon? Are you okay, buddy?” he asked tentatively, feeling how tense Sheldon’s muscles still were beneath his hands.

“Y-Yes.” Sheldon voiced shakily. “Leonard… that man… h-he has no hope. I want you to remove him.”

“Of course.” Leonard said and he waved frantically at two doctors outside the window who already took notice of the scuffle and came sprinting into the room.

Over Penny’s railing and shouting, Leonard tried to explain what happened. Neither the limping doctor, nor Sheldon, spoke another word. A short doctor with a bald patch and dark eyes apologized to Leonard:

“I’m so sorry for this. He’s going through a tough break-up and hasn’t been himself lately.”

“Hell, that’s no damn excuse to come in here and talk shit!” Penny hollered.

“I know, we’re sorry.” The other doctor spoke up with an Australian accent while roughly helping his bleeding colleague from the ground and shoving him out the door. “We’ll make sure he doesn’t bother you again.”

“You better!” Penny yelled after them.

The door closed and it was silent once more.

Leonard dragged a hand over his face and sighed deeply. He didn’t think that he could ever miss the heavy silence of this room. Penny was still balling her fists and throwing metaphorical daggers at the retreating figures of the doctors. Then, Leonard abruptly turned around, realizing that Sheldon wasn’t standing beside him anymore.

He found him next to Amy, of course. Brushing her hair back and kissing her forehead.

“Don’t listen to that man…” Leonard heard Sheldon whisper. “I promise, I will never give you up. I’ll never leave you.”

Worriedly, Leonard realized that this was, in fact, exactly what he was afraid of.

* * *

It was Monday.

A new week had begun. This meant that Dr. Foreman came in early today to perform a more thorough check-up on Amy.

The nurses just brought her back from a brain scan and Dr. Foreman followed them a little while later with the results. They were all here this morning to hear what the neurologist had to say. Penny and Mary sat back in one corner of the room while Penny told Mrs. Cooper again what a horrible man they had encountered a few days ago. Fortunately, he hadn’t returned.

Leonard was standing next to Sheldon, who was, as always, sitting in his chair to Amy’s right. With his hands deep in his pockets and his thick brows pushed together with worry, Leonard waited for the word of the doctor.

Dr. Foreman put the lamp he used to check Amy’s pupils back into the pocket of his coat and sighed with a frown.

“What is it?” To Leonard’s surprise, it was Sheldon who reacted first to the troubled sigh.

The doctor looked at him. Sheldon’s pleading eyes met the unrelenting frown and it made Leonard feel uneasy and nervous.

“She’s still not responding to light or pressure.” Dr. Foreman said glumly. “For a coma patient, Amy’s scan looked relatively good. The inner lesions and swellings in her brain have regressed almost fully and her wounds heal nicely. But her faint response indicates that she probably still suffers from the initial loss of oxygen from when she had been under water.”

Sheldon averted his gaze. His eyes got that haunted, faraway look again when Dr. Foreman mentioned the water.

Leonard had been in Pasadena when Sheldon found Amy in the bathtub. He had tried to call him multiple times and was annoyed that he wasn’t answering his phone. Leonard felt a heavy pang of guilt in his stomach. _What he must have been through_ , he thought. Leonard only saw Amy lying in the hospital bed. Still and unresponsive, but breathing and otherwise okay.

But Sheldon was there when Amy was not.

He was the one who pulled her out of the tub and had to reanimate her.

Leonard couldn’t imagine how terrified he must have been; the paralyzing horror he must have experienced, finding the woman he loves like that.

Leonard knew it would probably scar Sheldon for the rest of his life.

“I know we were all hoping for a different outcome,” Dr. Foreman continued. “But the damage that was done might be too severe for her to regain consciousness. The longer it is taking her to heal, the slimmer are the chances of her being able to fight her way back to the surface.”

Sheldon’s eyes watered.

Penny and Mary, who had stepped closer, exchanged a shocked glance with Leonard, but they all weren’t able to say anything just yet. Together, they watched Sheldon, fisting Amy’s right hand tightly and lifting it up to his lips to kiss it. His body started to tremble almost unnoticeably.

Dr. Foreman walked around the bed and lightly touched Sheldon’s shoulder. “I’m sorry.” he said. “You might need to consider that we have to relocate Amy to a different ward for long-term coma patients.”

Abruptly, Sheldon looked up. He squeezed Amy’s hand so tight that he actually caused her skin to change color; her fingertips turned white, the rest of her hand reddened.

“No!” he exclaimed. “She has to stay here. She will wake up, I… I know it. You said… a-and everyone out there, they…” Sheldon was too upset to finish his sentences. His panicked eyes darted around in the room before he fixed on Leonard. “Leonard, you said… you said I have to keep hoping. I shouldn’t give up. Y-You said that.”

Leonard swallowed. _Oh, his eyes. He looks so fragile._ The horrible grief was back full force in Sheldon’s features. “It’s alright, buddy.” Leonard whispered hoarsely. “It’s going to be okay.”

“No!” Sheldon yelled again, much louder this time. “It’s _not_ going to be alright. Not without Amy!”

Quickly, Mary came closer, pushing everyone else out of the way. “Sheldon, honey, let go of her hand.”

“No, I won’t let her go!”

Mary cupped Sheldon’s face so gently like only a mother could. “You’re squeezing her too tight.” she spoke calmly. “Amy can’t say when it hurts right now, baby.”

Startled, Sheldon moved his face back to Amy, immediately loosening his grip but not letting go completely. “I’m sorry.” he hushed; tears were audible in his voice. He stroked his fingers over her cheek and then laid Amy’s hand back upon the mattress, caressing it tenderly and leaning down to kiss it.

Dr. Foreman excused himself to let them come to terms with the news on their own. Leonard had tears in his eyes, too, as he stepped over to Penny, who was shivering violently from head to toe. She was pressing her lips together, so hard it must hurt. As she recognized Leonard being near to her, she fell into his arms and sobbed against his shoulder. Leonard stroked over her head and listened to Mary, talking quietly to her son.

“God can work wonders, Shelly. He can still help her get strong…” She paused, obviously gathering herself but still sounding teary as she continued. “And if not… he will always look after her. He’ll take good care of Amy.”

Sheldon’s voice sounded muffled as he answered and when Leonard turned his head, he saw him still collapsed over Amy’s body, leaning against her belly and pressing her hand to his face. “I want to be the one who cares for her.” he said broken-heartedly.

After a pause, Sheldon reached for Amy’s left hand, too, feeling for the ring that still grazed her fourth finger. “I want to marry her and care for her for the rest of my life.”

“And you will, eventually.” Mary said. “You’re already married in the eyes of the Lord.”

“That’s not enough.” Sheldon replied crestfallen. “I want to hear Amy say ‘yes’. I want to see the happiness in her eyes. I want her to kiss me back.”

Penny hugged Leonard tighter. He focused back on her, shushing and rocking her. But Leonard still heard what Sheldon said next:

“The ring will stay with her forever, no matter what. I will never love anyone like I love Amy. And if she won’t wake up again… then neither want I. I’ll never leave her side.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know House seems cruel in this, but... he's just a complicated person. The TV show "House M.D." is still great, though! :)  
> Also, this chapter ramped up the angst level, didn't it? But please stay with me, it will be over soon, I promise!


	7. One Ring to Dream

Sheldon Cooper always had a very imaginative mind.

It was part of his genius.

As a child, he was often lying upon his bed with his eyes closed, pushing imaginary subatomic particles around. When he was bored in school, he fled to a make-believe world in his head where his advanced mathematics was saving NASA from a catastrophic crash. Sometimes, Sheldon would even envision something silly and childish, like being a space pirate on a grand ship, flying through the galaxy.

No matter what he was visualizing before his mind’s eye, it was always some form of escape from reality… because he was bored, underwhelmed or certain that he doesn’t belong with those average human beings.

Sheldon loved his imaginative ventures.

Right now, he was reviving this useful practice because reality had become much too painful for him to bear.

Approximately since a few days – he couldn’t be sure how long exactly; time was different when he was picturing things in his mind – Sheldon was almost solely living in an alternate version of reality.

In _his_ world... Amy could wake up and he was able to talk to her.

Granted, his world was still somehow tied to the hospital room and Amy always returned back to her sleeping self whenever someone managed to shake him out of his fantasy, but Sheldon still cherished the time he had with his imaginary Amy.

He would prefer to remain in his make-believe world forever, because there… there was no pain.

However, people seemed to be very keen on bringing him back every time. They practically forced him to blink himself back to reality, because his mother, Leonard or Penny always appeared directly in his line of sight, shaking him or yelling at him to come back.

Apparently, they were worried.

They kept repeating how he had them scared, because he could sit there motionless for hours while his mind was elsewhere. Sometimes, they said, he was talking aloud. They also always told him how long it has been since he last eaten. Sheldon didn’t understand why they were doing this. He didn’t need to eat when he was with Imaginary Amy.

She was lively and happy and she was aware of the ring she wore on her finger.

The first time Sheldon was hallucinating a world with Amy, he had asked her to marry him. Her response was everything he’d ever wanted. Her eyes had lit up, sparkling like an emerald forest, bathing in sunlight. Then she said _yes_. An exclamation so perfect with happy excitement in her voice. And then she had thrown her arms around him, squeezing him tightly. He had reciprocated hesitantly, afraid that a touch would destroy the illusion.

But she had remained in his arms. He had been feeling her pressure everywhere they were touching. And finally, she had kissed him. Happy and passionate and so, so real.

It was perfect.

Since then, Sheldon couldn’t stay away from his imaginary Amy. Together, they went on incredible, fantastic adventures. They colonized Mars, just like he had promised her. They traveled to medieval England and to France. Because he loved seeing her eyes sparkle. And sometimes, they just found themselves back at home in their apartment.

That was Sheldon’s favorite fantasy. He could just imagine that Amy never went away to New Jersey. No, she stayed home with him and they were sitting on that awful aqua-colored couch. She was snuggling against him and he let her. And they were talking about science.

_Couldn’t it be like that forever?_

As Sheldon wished for this, in the present, it was late in the evening. He could only tell because the room seemed a bit darker than normal. But maybe that was only his vision. Reality always seemed dark to him now.

Leonard and Penny have fallen asleep in the chairs in the back of the room. They weren’t leaving him alone anymore. They were scared. Sheldon remembered that his mother had been the last one shaking him back to reality today, only to inform him that she would go to sleep now and that he should come with her.

Sheldon hadn’t answered. Mary was crying when she went away. But somehow that didn’t touch Sheldon anymore. In reality he was numb. Only when he was with Imaginary Amy he could feel.

Slowly, Sheldon turned his head away from his friends’ slumbering forms. That simple movement seemed to exert him immensely. He focused back on Amy, sleeping peacefully in front of him. He breathed deeply through his nose, squeezed her right hand and concentrated.

The edges of his vision swam until only _she_ was visible. Then, suddenly, the room was doused in light and she opened her eyes.

_“Sheldon!”_ Imaginary Amy smiled brightly and swiftly sat up from the hospital bed.

Sheldon smiled back. “Hello, Amy.” he said.

Without a care in the word, Imaginary Amy stood up. A healthy, rosy color returned to her cheeks and her dull, dark hair seemed to shimmer in the light. Happily, she threw her arms around him. _“I’m glad you came back.”_ she said.

“I always come back to you.” Sheldon replied, breathing in the scent of her hair and got immediately bombarded with sensations.

It was another thing only his mind could do and Sheldon was so grateful for it. His eidetic memory enabled him to remember absolutely everything about Amy in total clarity. How she smelled, how she felt when she was hugging him, how she looked and talked and how her kisses tasted.

It made his hallucinations so much more real.

Imaginary Amy loosened her embrace and stepped back from him. Sheldon had to fight the urge to keep holding her close. Her beautiful green eyes gleamed vibrant and so alive as she was looking up to him.

_“Where are we going today, Sheldon?”_ she asked. _“I can’t wait for you to show me more of your world. This could be like our honeymoon, you know. Only… before we have the actual wedding.”_ she giggled.

Sheldon smiled with her, but the mention of the wedding planted a dark thought in his mind. _Huh, that never happened before in this reality_ , he wondered. After all, he came here to escape the pain not to get reminded of more.

But his and Amy’s wedding… that was the one thing he couldn’t imagine. He didn’t know why. He tried, of course. It was his one pressing dream; he longed to be wedded to her. But somehow, he couldn’t picture it. There were so many details that were unclear to him. Which type of dress would Amy love to wear? Where would she want to hold the ceremony? Who would she invite apart from their mutual friends?

Of course, he could imagine a wedding that he would enjoy, but would that also be what Amy wanted? Shouldn’t their wedding be an event they would plan together?

Sheldon couldn’t bring himself to go that far. He wanted to be married for real or not at all.

_“What’s with you today?”_ Imaginary Amy asked, bringing him back from reverie… to fantasy. She was still standing there, head cocked to the side, a lopsided smile on her lips.

He smiled brighter at her. “It’s nothing, Amy.” he assured her. Sheldon extended a hand and stroked a strand of hair behind her ear; slowly, from the root to the tip, savoring every inch. “You are… so beautiful.” he whispered mesmerized.

Imaginary Amy blushed, looking to the ground. _“Oh, Sheldon…”_

Immediately, he raised her head back up so he could see her eyes. “I mean it.” he said.

She smiled. _“Well… thank you, fiancé.”_

Another sting to his heart, but this time he masked it quickly. He pulled her head closer and kissed her lips, no longer able to stand there before her and not feel her upon him. The kiss was sweet and soft. He could feel her mouth moving, her lips parting. Yes... that was why he was always coming back to her.

_Why would nobody let me stay?_

They parted. Her eyes sparkled. _“So…”_ she grinned. _“Where will you take me today?”_

His hand ran along her arm. Suddenly, he imagined her wearing her favorite, purple dress. Short-sleeved, without her cardigan on top. His fingers had her soft skin erupting in goosebumps. “Why don’t you decide?” he said.

She furrowed her brows in mock confusion, smiling at him. _“Because you always decide. Only you know this world. And you never disappointed me with your choices.”_

“Yeah, but… you should get a say in this, too, don’t you think?”

_“Hmm…”_ she considered. _“If you ask me like that, I’d say… maybe we should stay here this time.”_

“Here?” Sheldon repeated in surprise, looking around in the bleak, empty hospital room. The figures of Leonard and Penny were merely shadows in his eyes. As if they were melting with the furniture. “Why would you want to stay here?”

Imaginary Amy shrugged her shoulders. _“I don’t know. Something tells me it’s important that we stay.”_

Sheldon was confused. Wasn’t even his imagination strong enough anymore to separate Amy from the hospital bed? Was _Amy_ not strong enough to go? Fear arose within him. “No, let’s go away.” he said, taking her hands and closing his eyes for a second.

When he opened them again the background behind Amy was still swirling. Slowly, it was coming more into focus. They were in Amy’s lab at CalTech. “You could show me one of your experiments again. I could sit here and watch you…” Sheldon stepped back, sitting on a stool that he knew was there, because he always used to sit on it during lunch break at her lab. “Or I could participate and assist you. Whatever you like best.”

Imaginary Amy smiled. _“I’m not in the mood for work today.”_ she said and just like that the room swirled again and they were back at the hospital.

“What? Uh, okay… how about this.” Sheldon blinked. A calm, steady clickety-clack was audible and suddenly, they were on a train, remarkably similar to the one where they had their Valentine’s Day dinner a few years back. “A train trip across the country. You enjoyed that the last time.”

Imaginary Amy wrinkled her nose and softly shook her head. _“Well, that’s just it. We did that already.”_ Pop. Back to the hospital.

Sheldon started to panic. Desperately, he held onto her hands as they traveled a third time. “What about home.” They were back at apartment 4B, Los Robles Avenue. “Nothing beats home. We could watch one of your favorite movies. _Pride and Prejudice_. I can picture it by heart.”

Imaginary Amy let go of his hands and stroked his cheeks instead. Sheldon closed his eyes. Her hands were so soft and warm. _“Why don’t you want to stay?”_

He looked at her. She was back in her hospital room. Back in her hospital gown. _No, not yet._ “I-I _want_ to stay… with you. Anywhere but here, with you.” Sheldon promised. “Please, Amy, let’s go.”

Her smile was so caring and tender. Why did she seem concerned about him all of a sudden? _“Can’t we just stay here and talk?”_ she asked, pulling him with her until they were both sitting down next to each other on the hospital bed. _“You seem tired.”_

“W-What? Tired… me?” Sheldon stuttered. He was lost. Usually, his fantasy was solely ruled by his decisions. Why didn’t it work this time? Why was his subconscious insisting on torturing him further? “I’m not tired… I… I’m fine. Please, let’s just go away.”

_“Where?”_

“Wherever you want!” Sheldon exclaimed… and then paused. He just raised his voice. He yelled at her. _What is happening?_ Ashamed, he turned his head away.

_“Are you angry with me?”_ Imaginary Amy questioned quietly.

His head swiveled back. Sheldon grabbed her by the shoulders, looking deeply into her eyes. “No.” he promised desperately. “No, I’m not angry with you. I’m…”

_“Sad?”_ she helped.

Sheldon cupped her cheeks, his thumbs stroked over her skin. Amy’s eyes looked into his soul, apparently knowing already what he felt. She _was_ his soul. “Y-Yes.” he said with a tremble in his voice.

_“Why?”_ she asked innocently. _“Tell me everything.”_

_There is no escaping from the truth, is there?_ Sheldon wondered. Amy was looking at him full of patience and acceptance. Like she always did. Like she was real. He just couldn’t hold back anymore when she was looking at him like that.

“Why?” he repeated. Sheldon leaned his head down against her shoulder and listened to a heartbeat that was probably in fact his own. “Because of you.” he whispered. “Because you have been unresponsive for such a long time. At first… I was terrified.” Sheldon narrated. “Then I was sad, incredibly sad. Then I was hopeful and then terrified again.” he paused. “And now… now I’m just exhausted.”

Sheldon felt how Imaginary Amy stroked her hand over his head; her fingers tousled his hair, caressing it calmly. He pressed himself closer against her body, imagining with all his might that her warmth was real.

“I can’t do this without you anymore.” he sobbed. “I need you to talk to me, to give me hope and strength.”

_“We are talking.”_ she said.

“No… not like this.” he protested weakly. “For real. I need you for real… or I won’t be able to go on. Not without you, Amy… not without you.”

He cried into her shoulder like a child. She rocked him. She sang to him. But that didn’t sooth him this time. It made everything worse. Because that made him miss her even more.

_“You need to stay strong.”_ Imaginary Amy said suddenly. _“Because I never want to be without you, either. You need to stay with me.”_

“I _am_ with you. Always.”

_“No. For real. You need to return to me for real. It’s important. I know it.”_ With that Imaginary Amy gently pulled out of his grasp and readied herself to lie down again.

Panic gripped Sheldon’s heart. “ _No!_ No, please... don’t go yet! Please, I can’t… I’m not strong enough to—“

_“Sheldon!”_ Suddenly, she was close again, holding his face between her hands. Her green eyes stared at him insistently. _“You have to return to me… because… I need you now. I’m squeezing your hand.”_

Imaginary Amy took his hand and clasped it tightly… just as she said. Then she lay back down and closed her eyes.

“W-What?” stuttered Sheldon incomprehensibly. He felt his fantasy fading around him, but he couldn’t shake the feeling away that he was missing something very important.

Imaginary Amy blinked her eyes open once more. Again, she gripped his hand tightly while staring at him meaningfully. Her lips didn’t move anymore, but Sheldon still heard her talk in his mind:

_“You have to return to me… because_ I am _squeezing your hand.”_

* * *

The illusion was gone.

The room was dark and Amy’s eyes were closed. Her cheeks were pale and hollow again and the lively smile vanished from her face.

Sheldon found himself sitting at the edge of her bed. Like in his fantasy. He must have switched position without noticing.

He stared down at his hand, tightly clasped around hers...

An undefinable feeling suddenly stirred within him. As if a little warning bell went off in his mind and it was his imaginary Amy who was ringing it.

_Why did she mention her hand?_ Sheldon wondered. _What exactly had she said?_

He was in the midst of making sense of Imaginary Amy’s words... when Real Amy suddenly helped him along.

Sheldon was startled so bad that he abruptly jumped to his feet, stumbling backwards. Shivering from head to toe and breathing harshly, he stared down at his girlfriend.

_Dear Lord! Did that really just happen? Can it be? Am I turning mad?_

Sheldon focused on Amy’s right hand.

The hand that he could swear had moved just now.

_Is that what my subconscious was trying to tell me all along? Or am I still imagining things?_

With his breath still labored and shaky, Sheldon quickly looked around, taking in his surroundings. It was dark and quiet. His friends were still sleeping in the back. The night personnel of the hospital was bustling around in the hallways outside. And Amy… Amy was still unconscious. _Or was she?_

Everything felt real to Sheldon. He wasn’t dreaming anymore, he was sure of it now. He remembered coming back to reality… to Amy…

Because she was most definitely squeezing his hand.

With his heart beating in his face, Sheldon staggered back towards the bed, grasping Amy’s hand once more with both of his. The lump in his throat made it almost impossible for him to talk, but eventually he succeeded:

“Amy?” he rasped in disbelief. Sheldon held his breath.

Seconds later… there it was. Two of her fingers. They moved, bent inwards to touch his skin.

Something exploded inside of Sheldon. Maybe it was his heart, overflowing with joy. Or his brain, bursting with relief. He couldn’t tell.

“Amy.” he whispered again, firmer now, but with tears shooting into his eyes.

Again, a weak, almost unnoticeable movement of her fingers. But it was definitely there. He wasn’t imagining this!

“Oh, Amy.” Sheldon placed one hand against her cheek. As a response there was a sound. An unintelligible murmur in the back of her throat. “Amy.” he repeated louder.

Sheldon bent his head down to her chest to better catch the sounds that came from her, but instead, he was able to hear her heart beating. And every time he was saying her name, it seemed to skip a beat. With a smile on his face, so wide it must have seemed downright mad to others, Sheldon was repeating her name. Over and over again. Like in a trance. The tears kept streaming down his face in relief. He would never get tired of saying her name.

“Sheldon? Sheldon, buddy, what’s wrong?”

“Sweetie, can you please look at us? Sheldon?”

He had woken Leonard and Penny. The thought registered in Sheldon’s brain, but he was too focused on his Amy-mantra to stop and explain to them what just happened.

“I think he’s having a panic attack. Stay with him, I get a nurse.”

“Leonard!” Suddenly, Sheldon managed to lift his head from Amy’s chest. “She’s moving.” he gasped breathlessly and shaking with joy. He saw his best friend, standing between him and the door, looking extremely worried. “She squeezed my hand.” Sheldon affirmed. “I-I’m not kidding. She’s responding. I… I think she can hear me.”

“Sheldon…” Penny’s voice spoke up, too. Carefully, disbelievingly.

“ _She is_. Look.” Sheldon stressed and focused back on Amy. Once more, he was caressing her cheek. His friends stayed silent… awaiting… until there was this soft murmuring sound again.

Penny jerked, moving closer. “Oh, my god, Leonard. Did you hear that? Holy crap, she _is_ moving!”

There was silence for a beat.

“I’m getting a nurse.” Leonard breathed out, running out the door so quickly that the glass window was shaking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger!! I know! But the chapter was getting too long, so I had to break it up somewhere. Last chapter comes on Sunday ;)


	8. One Ring to Wake Her

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter! Thanks to everyone who was reading, liking or commenting on this story!  
> I hope you take this last opportunity to tell me your thoughts at the end of this chapter. I would appreciate it so much! :)

There was continuous coming and going for the next hours.

It seemed like nobody was sleeping tonight.

First, Leonard alarmed the head nurse for this station, who then summoned a doctor. Not Dr. Foreman but a different one, working the night shift. He was telling Sheldon that it, indeed, looked like Amy was going to wake up. That she still seemed pretty far away and that it could take a while. He advised Sheldon to continue talking to her.

And that he did.

Sheldon felt as if new life was breathed into him. He figured the exhaustion would come back later, but right now, he was full of adrenaline and hope.

He never stopped touching Amy in some way. Holding her hands, brushing her hair back, kissing her cheek. Sheldon was talking without a pause, telling Amy about the fantastic adventures he experienced with her in his mind and telling her about the horrible weeks he had to endure in reality.

No one was able to distract him from talking.

His mom was back at some point during the night. She was excited, crying tears of happiness and praying to the Lord so he would give Amy the strength to open her eyes. But when Mary tried speaking to Sheldon, he wasn't listening. The same went for Leonard and Penny.

Sheldon's sole focus was limited and concentrated on Amy. He cataloged every reaction, every tiny movement she made. It seemed like she was responding to his voice even more than to his touches. Her heart rate spiked up slightly whenever he was talking and Sheldon felt that his own heart was mirroring hers.

Eventually, Dr. Foreman came back, too. It was still very early in the morning, but he obviously wanted to be a witness to his patient’s awakening. He came and went every hour, checking on Amy. Later, when Amy’s grip around Sheldon’s fingers became steadily firmer, he appeared every half hour.

In the middle of his own Amy-centered monologue, Sheldon suddenly recognized that there were more voices in the room than there were people. Static voices, tired but excited. Leonard must have made use of his iPad again, putting Howard and Bernadette through via video chat.

Later yet again, it was almost morning now; the dawn of a new hopeful day was just breaking, he also heard the hurried voice of Raj, joining the video conference.

“Amy… can you hear them?” Sheldon asked her softly. “They’re all here. All of our friends. They’re waiting for you.” A squeeze of her hand, a small, jerky movement of her head. “Can you wake up, my dear? Can you come back to me now?”

The swishing of the sliding door interrupted him and Dr. Foreman’s deep voice spoke up. “Oh, I see Amy got more visitors.” He came up to the bed. “How is she doing, Sheldon?”

“She’s there, doctor.” Sheldon whispered, but not even turning his head away to look at the dark-skinned man. “I know it. She’s right there.”

Dr. Foreman bowed down closer to Amy on the other side of the bed. Mary made room for him. “Dr. Fowler? Amy... if you can hear me can you give me a sign?”

Amy frowned. Her delicate, dark eyebrows scrunched together for just a second.

Dr. Foreman smiled. “She seems to prefer your voice.”

Sheldon swallowed and nodded quickly. Once again, he leaned down to her until their faces almost touched. She was so close to waking up now, Sheldon could feel it. “Amy, I’m still here. Please… can you open your eyes, darlin’? Please, I…”

Sheldon swallowed again. So many emotional, private things were sitting on the tip of his tongue and he was desperate to voice them all. But suddenly, Sheldon became extremely aware of the numerous pairs of eyes that must be fixed upon him and Amy.

For the first time since last night, when Leonard stormed out the door, Sheldon looked up, letting his eyes roam slowly over every person in the room.

There was Dr. Foreman at the end of Amy’s bed with his hands in the pockets of his coat and a small, confident smile on his face. To his left behind him were Leonard and Penny, huddled together and holding each other’s hands. In Leonard’s free hand he was holding the small, rectangular screen of his iPad on which three heads were fighting for the best view into Amy’s room.

Sheldon turned to his other side. The hallways in front of the room were busy as always, but there was still something different. Not as many people were hurrying past as they usually did. No, everyone, who apparently got some time, was lingering there. Looking in with interest and excitement. Sheldon recognized Lorraine again, standing at the far-right edge of the window, wiping tears from her eyes.

Dr. Foreman wasn’t lying earlier. He and Amy really became popular here at Princeton.

Nervously, Sheldon wet his lips, his eyes flitting back to Amy. All she needed now was one last push to break the wall between unconsciousness and reality. He was sure of it. And everyone was watching.

Suddenly, a warm hand was covering his shaking one that rested above Amy’s belly. Sheldon abruptly looked up to the face across from him.

His mother. With her love and patience in her warm, brown eyes. “Go on, baby.” she whispered. “Tell her what you feel.”

Sheldon swallowed the lump in his throat. Tears were filling his eyes. He nodded again, strong and determined. He gazed back at Amy and let his fingers ran down from her temple to her sweet, pointy chin.

“Amy, please open your eyes for me now.” Sheldon begged again. “I… I miss you so much. I’ve been waiting for you, Amy… f-for so long. Please... I know you can do it, darlin’. I know you can wake up.”

Amy murmured. She stirred, tensing her weak muscles.

“Yes… yes, just like that.” Sheldon whispered excitedly, cupping her cheek. His other hand never ceasing to squeeze hers. “Open those beautiful, emerald eyes now and come back to me.”

She turned her head towards his voice; her mouth was moving as if she wanted to say something.

“I’m here, Amy.” Sheldon said softly. “I’m always here and... I love you. Please...”

Like everything else, it happened gradually.

First, her eyebrows moved. Her lashes quivered. Then slowly… slowly, her sealed lids broke open and she blinked against the light.

Breathy gasps of elated relief erupted all around them.

Sheldon didn’t bother. Holding her hand with his and repeatedly caressing and stroking her hair behind her ear, he kept his focus on Amy. Still unseeing, she blinked at him.

“Amy?” It was a question full of hope, but also full of nervous anticipation. Was she still _his_ Amy?

She blinked a few times more, stretching the seconds. Then suddenly, like nothing ever happened, she smiled.

“Sheldon.”

Another round of gasps and exclamations, a billowy wave of happiness. But between his eyes and hers… time stood still.

Her smile was so intimate, yet it must have been so obvious to everyone how genuinely happy she was to see him. And the sigh that escaped him was expressing that exact same feeling tenfold.

“Amy.” Sheldon exclaimed lovingly.

He was blinded, all of a sudden. By love and relief and exhaustion and unbound joyousness. Everything crashed over him, wave after wave, until he felt like he was drowning. Drowning in her opened, emerald eyes. And he was doing it so readily.

Sheldon knew how pathetically he was crying, but the tears simply wouldn’t stop. He was holding her face between his hands, feeling her muscles move beneath her skin. Her real, soft, lively skin.

“Oh, Amy, you’re here.” he gasped. “You came back to me. Oh, dear Lord... I can’t believe I’m not dreaming.” He kissed her forehead just to make sure. Amy was trying to move her arms, but she was too weak, yet. “My god, I’ve missed you. You won’t believe how much.” he blabbered on. “I love you, Amy. Never leave me again.”

“Sh-Sheldon…” Her voice was still raspy and quiet, but finally she managed to interrupt him. That was when Sheldon realized that she wasn’t smiling anymore. “Sheldon…” she repeated. “I love you, too, but…” Her eyes searched his. Worried, scared even. “Please, tell me… why are you crying so much?”

_She doesn’t remember._

Sheldon tried to compose himself, frantically wiping the tears from his eyes and then taking Amy’s right hand again and pressing it close to his chest. “Wh-What…” he sobbed and cleared his throat. “What is the last thing you remember?”

Amy’s gaze became unfocused for a moment as she tried to listen into her mind. “There’s... n-nothing.” she mumbled with a shiver. Sheldon squeezed her hand tighter to him.

With a small gasp, Amy suddenly stared at her own hand, pressed against Sheldon’s chest. “Wait, I… I remember…” she whispered, looking into his eyes. “You.” she said. “When we said goodbye at the taxicab… we kissed and you did _this_.” Out of her own strength now, she held her hand up against the spot where his heart was beating rapidly. “I was on my way to the airport to get to…”

Amy interrupted herself abruptly and inhaled again. Drawing her hand back, she held it up frozen in mid-air as she obviously got overwhelmed by the pictures in her mind. Carefully, Sheldon reached for her, calmly helping her through the fog of her memories.

Then suddenly, Amy's left hand flew up to the back of her head and in the next second she seemed to understand fully where she was and why she was here. Rapidly, and a bit frightened, she looked into the faces all around her, really recognizing all of them for the first time.

Leonard, Penny, Howard, Raj, Bernadette and Mary, they all smiled at Amy, welcoming her back with a few soft-spoken words. But Amy wasn’t done remembering yet. Her view of the story just bubbled out of her, as if she was afraid she would forget it again if she didn’t voice it.

“There was... there was this really tall professor… Dr. Svenson.” she recollected. “I was late and in a hurry and… I bumped into him on my way to the lab. I wasn’t looking where I was going… I had my phone out.” She looked up at Sheldon. “You hadn’t texted me your midday text yet and I was worried…” Amy remembered.

Sheldon made a face of shock as he understood the implications. But Amy suddenly smiled.

“You know… this Dr. Svenson, he had really long blonde hair… he reminded me a little of Thor.” she smirked without any worry. “So, of course, I wanted to call you immediately, like I promised, but… my head hurt and my colleagues urged me to go to the hospital and somehow… it had annoyed and stressed me so much.” Amy explained thoughtfully. “I think I told them that I was perfectly able to evaluate the severity of my own headache and went home. I… I planned on calling you again after I’d taken my bath, but somehow… it must have slipped my mind…”

Towards the end of her narration, it became obvious that Amy wasn’t clear on the details anymore. She looked at Sheldon for help, expecting him to fill the blanks. But Sheldon was suddenly lost in his end of the events.

Amy’s imploring, questioning look swam in front of his eyes. Water lapped over her face, entering her mouth and nose and Sheldon knew this should make it impossible for her to breathe.

“Sheldon?” she said and the imaginary water disappeared. Amy looked at him with concern. The horror from weeks ago must still be clearly visible on his face whenever he remembered.

Sheldon had a feeling it would never fully go away.

His breath trembled as he inhaled deeply and put his hands to her cheeks. “Please… not yet.” he begged her quietly. “Don’t make me tell you what happened just yet.”

Silently, they stared into each other’s eyes. Eventually, Amy nodded with unconditional acceptance; she never needed words to understand him. “Okay.” she said.

“Thank you.” Sheldon answered and kissed her cheek softly.

A throat cleared suddenly and their gaze was broken. “I’m really sorry for interrupting,” Dr. Foreman said. “But maybe I can give you some medical details, so you can at least understand why you’re treated here?” he offered.

Amy blinked at him, still a bit lost. “Okay… yes, please.”

“Good. I’m Dr. Eric Foreman and I’m a neurologist assigned to your case here at the Princeton Plainsboro Hospital.” He paused and had to grin. “First of all, let me tell you that I’m quite frankly a huge fan of your scientific work, Dr. Fowler.”

“Oh… thank you.” Amy said warily, quickly looking at Sheldon, who was trying to smile encouragingly at her.

“But what you could remember just now… that was quite impressive, too.” Foreman continued. “Dr. Fowler, your… head injury, it had been worse than you thought and you fell into a coma. You’ve been here for nearly six weeks and you only woke up now for the first time.”

“W-What?” Amy uttered disbelievingly, squeezing Sheldon’s hand.

“You were recovering slowly but I honestly wasn’t sure, at some point, if you would ever regain consciousness again.” Dr. Foreman told her openly. “And that you would be able to instantly recollect this much… I thought this to be impossible.”

Amy stared at the doctor open-mouthed, trying to wrap her head around everything he said. “But… but if I passed out… how did I even get here? I-I remember being home… alone.”

There was a beat of silence. Amy quickly glanced up to her friends who all had the same sad look on their faces. Sheldon knew that Amy was probably desperate to talk to all of them, but right now, she pushed that need aside and looked at Dr. Foreman again, waiting for a reply.

“You might want to thank your… your _boyfriend_ for that.” the doctor smiled.

Amy’s head swiveled back to Sheldon’s, who was briefly nodding at Dr. Foreman, silently thanking him for something Amy wouldn’t understand just yet.

“But you… you were in Pasadena.” Amy stuttered in utter confusion, furrowing her brows. “At that time, you must have been miles away, knowing nothing about my accident. I… I’ve been meaning to call you, but…” Her sentence remained fragmented. “H-How could you get here so quickly?”

Sheldon smiled at her lovingly. In due time, he would tell her about the missing chunk of time between finding her and getting her to the hospital, but right now… right now, he knew that this was the time.

His chance, _finally_ , to fulfill the plan he was forced to abandon for so long.

Just like when he was walking up to her door six weeks ago, wondering if his nerves would ever get the better of him, Sheldon’s heart was suddenly hammering against his chest in excitement.

_No backing out now. This is it. This is finally happening, no matter what occurred previously. I have to do this now! From now on, she will be mine forever…_

Still smiling about his inner musings, Sheldon’s trembling hand reached over Amy’s body. For a split-second he locked gaze with his mother, who was still sitting there with tears in her eyes. Sheldon took Amy’s left hand, covering it with his and pulling it over to rest it in his other hand.

He breathed in through his nose and out through his mouth, squeezing her hand to reaffirm that this was real. Then, with a shaky sigh, Sheldon removed his upper hand to reveal the binding surprise to Amy. The engagement ring sparkled in the light.

She gasped, jerking a little in shock.

No one in the room – or behind the screen of an iPad – seemed to be able to breathe, but Sheldon could hear the rising murmurs on the other side of the glass window.

“Sheldon…” Amy’s voice was high and thin. “Wh-What does this mean?”

“It’s yours.” Sheldon said softly, lifting her left hand further to kiss the back of it. Then he continued. “Amy… I know this must be… a hell of a lot to take in right now, but... this ring… that’s the only reason I came here. When I was apart from you, I realized that I didn’t want to spend a single day of my life without you by my side.” He smiled, tears burning in his eyes. “Because I love you a-and… I have been waiting so long to finally do this. And now… I simply can’t wait any longer.”

Speechless, with tears also glistening in her eyes, Amy watched as Sheldon slipped down from the bed and knelt on the floor on one knee.

“Amy… will you marry me?”

The air stood still.

Amy sobbed quietly; a tear ran down her rosy cheek. Then she nodded, smiling brightly.

“Yes.” she whispered.

The room erupted in cheers. No one held back their cries of joy and relief anymore. Applause echoed from the hospital hallways.

It was utter and total mayhem.

But in their quiet bubble of happiness, Sheldon and Amy shared a kiss. Gentle, but passionate. Sheldon found that this was so much better than everything he could ever imagine in his wildest fantasies.

As their lips had to part, because Sheldon’s heart threatened to explode from the loss of oxygen, and he leaned his forehead against hers, Amy silently took his hand between hers and pressed it against her chest.

Sheldon smiled. “I love you, too.” he whispered.


End file.
